GoDaddy outage due to 'internal network events,' not hack

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On the go, again

The GoDaddy.com outage that wrecked the web hosting and domain registration site Monday, taking with it websites around the globe, was the result of internal circumstances and not a hack.

This is according to Scott Wagner, GoDaddy's interim CEO, in an emailed response to TechRadar.

Wagner laid out the cause of "intermittent service outages" that started after 10 a.m. PDT.

"The service outage was not caused by external influences," he said. "It was not a 'hack' and it was not a denial of service attack (DDoS).

"We have determined the service outage was due to a series of internal network events that corrupted router data tables."

A member of hacktivist group Anonymous had taken responsibility for the attack, saying he or she was acting alone in disrupting GoDaddy services.

Getting going again

GoDaddy restored services completely by 4 p.m. PDT Monday, Wagner said.

The site has taken steps to "prevent this from occurring again."

TechRadar reached out to GoDaddy to see what events led to the outage and what specific measures are being taken. We will update this story if and when information becomes available.

Wagner said that at no time was customer data at risk, nor were any of GoDaddy's systems compromised.

TechCrunch reported that several million websites were affected by the outage, as well as email, phone and DNS services provided by GoDaddy.

Wagner said the site typically provides "99.999 percent uptime in our DNS infrastructure."

"This is the level our customers expect from us and the level we expect from ourselves. We have let our customers down and we know it."

Michelle Fitzsimmons

Michelle was previously a news editor at TechRadar, leading consumer tech news and reviews. Michelle is now a Content Strategist at Facebook.  A versatile, highly effective content writer and skilled editor with a keen eye for detail, Michelle is a collaborative problem solver and covered everything from smartwatches and microprocessors to VR and self-driving cars.