Hacked! 5 Gigs of Downloads - Only 1 Sale, How do you handle this?

[PLRwithAlex]

Hi Warriors,

Yesterday, I started a WSO. On the first sale, the buyer encountered a server problem. I PM'd him the download link (and gave him the unpurchased OTO as a 'sorry' gift)

Within the next 6 hours my server was hit with 5 gigs of downloads of my product and bonuses' zip file. All downloads came from the same IP address.

I've spent hours restructuring my download process for this site and, obviously, removing the original zip.

How do you guys handle this type of problem? I use cPanel and don't see a way to ban the IP address.

Alex

[bretski]

I use Bluehost and in Cpanel under Security there is "Deny IP Manager" which you can use to sort of "send a message"...but what is that one IP downloading to the tune of 5 GB? How big is the zip file? Is he hitting other directories? Yeah...I would set up some sort of security on your thank you page. I know that there are a few out there that are pretty good and the more experienced warriors who have their own products would be able to help you out there. I know that there is one that's only like 7 bucks and I think it blocks access to the download page unless they're coming from a payment page or something like that.

Did you try to contact the warrior to bought your product to make sure that they're not having a hard time downloading it?...like, perhaps their computer keeps on trying to download the files, I don't know...it's a shot in the dark there and I always want to give someone the benefit of the doubt instead of jumping them...and "hacking" is a pretty strong word and is illegal so...I know you're pi$$ed but just be careful...reach out to the forum here. Everyone is here to help and I hope you have a profitable day today and that you made a difference with your book

[Thomas W]

to clarify you had 5 gigs worth of downloads? Or you saying multiple people downloaded your product totalling upto 5 gigs?

[PLRwithAlex]

Thanks for your suggestions. Pi$$ed is an understatement :-)

The zip is 250 megs and was downloaded 22 times in 6 hours.

[George Wright]

Do you think it was the WSO buyer?

I know often times I've downloaded a file and when it's finished it is "corrupt," and won't open. so I try again, and again. However, this usually happens with PDFs. With Zips it's usually just an interruption of the download that makes it necessary to start over. Now I have free download manager and I don't have that problem.

George Wright

[Thomas W]

But your saying it's from One IP so unless it was behind a firewall it could be just the same person.

Hopefully you don't pay per gig, if so just place it as one of those learning lessons

[Gail Sober]

Create an .htaccess file and upload it to the folder holding your .zip file. That should stop the downloads.

Use this
=================

order allow,deny
deny from 000.00.0.0
allow from all

Replace 000.00.0.0 with your guys ip

[Renate]

What about making your downloadpage visible only once, like an OTO? In case the buyer has any trouble to download, he can contact you via support and you send him the zip-file as an attachment. Would that help?
You can use showstopper which you can get at
index (this is the url of the owner - no affiliate link).

Kind regards
Renate

[darktemplar]

Originally Posted by George Wright

Do you think it was the WSO buyer?

I know often times I've downloaded a file and when it's finished it is "corrupt," and won't open. so I try again, and again. However, this usually happens with PDFs. With Zips it's usually just an interruption of the download that makes it necessary to start over. Now I have free download manager and I don't have that problem.

George Wright

That seems like what it is from what I can tell. There would be absolutely no point in someone (from the same IP) downloading a file 22 times, when all he needs is to have it 1 time if he wanted to burn copies or email it, etc. But having 22 copies really does nothing if he already has it once. Unless he has 22 computers?

SS

[SageSound]

You wouldn't be one of those folks who thinks that using software like Rapid Action Profits that protects your downloads is an "advanced" solution to be obtained later on once you've achieved some level of success?

Another option is DLGuard.

FWIW, you probably weren't charged extra for the bandwidth, unless you've got a really cheap hosting acct.

You can always go to domaintools.com and enter the IP address to see where it's located. It could be a proxy server that the buyer set up and is telling his friends about it.

Don't expect to get answers to ALL of your questions from your host provider. They're doing their job. You need to do yours.

-David

PS: every one of the junk mailing lists I'm on right now can be traced back to purchases I made in the WSO forum. There are people there who set up WSOs for the purpose of harvesting emails that they sell to spammers. (Either that or they're spammers themselves.)

There are also people who buy stuff on WSOs for the explicit purpose of posting it to free download sites. I've had software show up on warez sites within 24 hours of starting to sell it as a WSO, and there's no other possible way anybody got it except from the WSO.

I don't know if there's much that can be done about either one; it just seems to go with the territory. Just be aware that it's very likely to happen.

[Johnathan]

Originally Posted by PLRwithAlex

Thanks for your suggestions. Pi$ is an understatement :-)

The zip is 250 megs and was downloaded 22 times in 6 hours.

Actually, chances are it wasn't deliberate then. Quite possibly he was using a download manager that couldn't handle a 250 meg file properly, so it just 'looped'.

[Echnaton69]

Do you have different options to check your traffic? Compare the numbers of these.

I have a monitoring/alert-system for my server from my provider which delivers insane numbers of traffic. I then checked the traffic with the accounting-module and the numbers were reasonable low.

I digged deeper and found out that when someone downloaded via a downloadmanager (flashgot, getright) the traffic monitor counts MBs download x simultaneous streams during the download. So if someone downloaded a 100 MB files with 4 simultaneous streams it shows 400 MB of traffic.

Then of course there a some people who click the download link, open it directly in WinRAR, then download it again to their harddisk and then again to the harddisk where they have enough space for the download *gg*.

Maybe you should block at first the IP-Address and ask your customer that your logs shows that he might have a problem with downloading your product and how you can help him/her :-)

[Tcalp]

The guy could have been using a download accelerator, which may end up giving you a report like that.

[Curt7]

There are people on this forum who purchase WSOs, then give the download link away on black hat sites. If you set up a different download link, someone on a black hat site, who has your product, will upload it to someplace like Rapidshare, and post that link.

While you can't do much about all of this, it would be a good idea to change your download link. I use one domain for all of my downloads. It has a text file to keep the search engines from indexing it.

It's also a good idea to put all of your downloads in zip files. Search engines don't usually index zip files, and your purchaser will not leave your download page when the zip file is downloading. That gives you a chance to sell them something else on your download page.

[VegasGreg]

250 megs for one file is HUGE and will probably cause problems for a lot of people trying to download it. That will freeze up a lot of computers out there. That could be the reason one person is trying to download it over and over.

It's all from 1 IP address, so I wouldn't say the file is being stolen. otherwise it would be from different IP addresses.

[PLRwithAlex]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I use JVM and with Brian's help I've changed the download link. I'll check into the cPanel for the IP blocker. the IP is in NY, NY.

Thanks for all the input.

You can always count on Warriors for a helping hand.

Alex

[seasoned]

PLRwithAlexl,

Let me tell you some things SURPRISINGLY few people understand...

1. Banning an IP is STUPID!!!!! 90% of the time, it can be changed in SECONDS, and may be used by ANOTHER customer that might be your BEST customer ever! The other 10% of the time, it can usually easily be changed. 100% of the time, such a ban can be DEFEATED!!!!!!! So there is simply NO reason to do it. It is different if it is the main IP of a server, but how likely are you to get an order from THAT!?!?

2. There are at least FIVE VERY valid reasons for downloading multiple times!

a. The extension is wrong, and MIME is causing problems.
b. A program is crashing, or it is running and isn't desired.
c. There is a download failure.
d. The file is corrupted.
e. YOUR server is failing.

a and b can be limited by right click, save as. c and d can be limited by keeping file size down.

BTW I have had ALL of the above problems. I was banned by digital river once because those IDIOTS had a stupid program that failed to download, and limited attempts. After failing there, they didn't answer pleas for help, so I DISPUTED the charge, and they prevented me from ordering from ANY of their customers.

Good going on the IP ban, BTW. If he did it from EVDO, dialup, a corporation, a hotspot, ISP such as earthlink, etc... it WON'T HELP when he logs on next time. If he did it from cable, dsl, etc... he can easily refresh the IP which may be reset anyway. Oh well, maybe he is breaking TOS or paying extra for a local server, on a corporate server DIRECTLY, or trying to access your site through a browser that is remote, and your ban MIGHT work. who knows. Oh well...

One more thing. 250MB for one file often WILL cause problems. I think you should have at LEAST a 100MB file size option.

steve

[PLRwithAlex]

Another problem with banning an IP, as I understand it, an ISP can use one IP for multiple customers. If true, you could ban a whole group of people.

I agree that banning an IP is not a great idea. I've changed the download in to multiple files and protected the download page as a 'members' type section.

Alex

[Mike Adams]

Get DL Guard... You can set a timer on the download link so it will become inactive after a certain number of hours or clicks.

[PLRwithAlex]

Originally Posted by BlackBookProject

Get DL Guard... You can set a timer on the download link so it will become inactive after a certain number of hours or clicks.

I've heard good things about DL Guard. I'll take a look at it.

Thanks

[SurviveUnemployment]

You need to use ZenCart, Magento, or Ubercart and set the download limit to one per purchase. You also need to make sure your files are not in a publicly accessible part of your site. On purchase, the shopping cart software will pass the file to /tmp directory, give it an impossible-to-guess name, and allow it to be downloaded only once, then send the link to the customer by e-mail.

So they need to give you a valid e-mail, and they get a link that only works once.

Don't put your download-for-pay files in a public directory. That's just silly.

[Gail Sober]

Sorry I didn't go into more detail in my post. I was responding directly to the question at hand.

I use cPanel and don't see a way to ban the IP address.

I agree, IP banning is not an ideal solution, more of a last resort, sticking your finger in the dam type action until you can get a perm solution in place but sometimes necessary if you have bandwidth limits, on a shared hosting account and affecting other accounts.

I use and recommend DLGuard. I have seen some file sharing from WSO's using it but solved that by lowering the time limits and number of allowed downloads.

[seasoned]

Originally Posted by PLRwithAlex

Another problem with banning an IP, as I understand it, an ISP can use one IP for multiple customers. If true, you could ban a whole group of people.

I agree that banning an IP is not a great idea. I've changed the download in to multiple files and protected the download page as a 'members' type section.

Alex

Let's say a company had a million customers. That is probably LOW for some minor ISPs. Lets say a modem cost $10. I have NEVER seen one cost so little, but lets just say. Let's say a phone line cost $45/month.

DEDICATED IP costs about $12 Million up front, and about $540 Million a year. Of course, that doesn't count the MILLIONS, possibly billions, of dollars. to handle infrastructure. So it not only isn't the case, it simply isn't possible. GRANTED, the average ISP may have hundreds of points, and ventures but, again, that doesn't make it more likely.

It is VERY possible to handle several hundred customers with a dozen modems(since not all will call at once), and hook them up to T1 lines. That could be done, last I knew, for about $10thousand up front and about $400/month. But the IPs would be governed by the MODEMS or DHCP and NOT the caller.

In any event, you can see sites like Oracle, etc... that offer large files AND groups of smaller files. The idea is reliable connections can go to the large files for simplicity, and other systems can go to the smaller ones to get past connection problems.

Steve

[seasoned]

............

[Mike Hill]

Just as a side note here folks...

The biggest reason why files are corrupt when someone downloads them is because there is a space in the name of the file. Get rid of the space and it will work...

just thought you might want to know that... it won't be like that for everyone who downloads a file but for some it will be an issue if there is a space in the name.

Mike Hill

[essmeier]

I use DL Guard. You can (with most hosts) place the files in a folder that is inaccessible from the Internet. DL Guard can fetch them when your customers need them, but otherwise, they pretty much don't exist.

Great product.

Charlie

[PLRwithAlex]

Hi Mike,

Agreed on the space issue. I watch for that and test downloaded the file from 3 computers and various browsers.

Alex

[seasoned]

Originally Posted by Mike Hill

Just as a side note here folks...

The biggest reason why files are corrupt when someone downloads them is because there is a space in the name of the file. Get rid of the space and it will work...

just thought you might want to know that... it won't be like that for everyone who downloads a file but for some it will be an issue if there is a space in the name.

Mike Hill

MAN, people today are SPOILED! MOST storage systems used to handle 8 characters, a period, and three characters. Characters could NOT be ANYTHING other than a-z and 0-9 except for ONE, and ONLY one period, except maybe the underscore! Some systems allowed other characters.

I was actually on a tech support call regarding table names. Since I KNEW the guy, I told him UP FRONT the table name should NOT have a space. I spent 3.5 HOURS on the stupid call and AT THE END, he said "You don't suppose it could be the space in the table name". DUH.... It was ORACLE, ever hear of it? Well, there is NO standard for quoting table names, and they MUST be quoted to work in databases. Likewise, they often must be quoted in directories.

Steve

[mywebwork]

I use eJunkie for file downloads, it's inexpensive, no bandwidth limit and they provide your customer with a temporary download link that is limited and expires (so sharing it is pointless).

I also agree with the others - 250 MB is a huge file for one download. With files this size you might want to add a CD or DVD purchase option for your customers on dial up modems (they still exist).

Is it possible for you to break down the download into smaller files?

Bill

[samstephens]

Heh, Steve I remember those days 8 charc, decimal, three char file extension.

Then when Windows 95 (I think?) came out and it allowed huge filenames, however as you know in DOS they still had the 8.3 limit, so you'd have to guess at filenames like:

exampl~1.exe




With the download count, it's probable that Tcalp is right - they probably used a download accellerator.

They work by making multiple connections and then downloading chucks of the file, and then making a new connection and grab the next chunck.

So if it's making 5 connections at once, and each connection downloads 4 chunks each, and then two more finish off the download, then you could easily reach 22 download attempts for the one person, and nothing dodgy happened.


Cpanel usually has an option to check bandwidth used - have a look to see if there really is 5 gigs of downloads for that day.

cheers
Sam

[zapseo]

On the other hand, it's possible that the ip could be of a proxy, along with the other ways that folks have indicated one ip address might be used by multiple people.

250M isn't a file size that would easily be able to be emailed.
And if it has an .exe file in it, gmail won't accept it.

Judy Kettenhofen, Copywriter & Marketing Geek

[ladyshadowrider]

Originally Posted by Curt Dillion

There are people on this forum who purchase WSOs, then give the download link away on black hat sites. If you set up a different download link, someone on a black hat site, who has your product, will upload it to someplace like Rapidshare, and post that link.

While you can't do much about all of this...

Believe it or not there is something you can do about this, Curt.

Set up a Google Alert for the product name, then visit the webpages Google sends you that have your product name on them.

If they are listing your product as a free download, check to see if the product file is hosted on one of the free file sharing sites like RapidShare or MegaUpload.

If it is, contact the free file sharing site that's hosting the illegal copy of your product, most of them have an abuse department, and tell them to remove your copyrighted product.

You'll have to provide some details about your product, but they will remove it! At least that's been my experience.

HTH,
Tamara

[seasoned]

Originally Posted by samstephens

Heh, Steve I remember those days 8 charc, decimal, three char file extension.

Then when Windows 95 (I think?) came out and it allowed huge filenames, however as you know in DOS they still had the 8.3 limit, so you'd have to guess at filenames like:

exampl~1.exe




With the download count, it's probable that Tcalp is right - they probably used a download accellerator.

They work by making multiple connections and then downloading chucks of the file, and then making a new connection and grab the next chunck.

So if it's making 5 connections at once, and each connection downloads 4 chunks each, and then two more finish off the download, then you could easily reach 22 download attempts for the one person, and nothing dodgy happened.


Cpanel usually has an option to check bandwidth used - have a look to see if there really is 5 gigs of downloads for that day.

cheers
Sam

CPM, DEC systems prior to VAX, Early Linux file systems, Early UNIX, Early Windows systems, ALL had the 8.3 format. Even TODAY, when going to the program directory in windows, I use progra~1! WHY? NO need to quote for that stupid space. HEY, be happy! FORTH(a computer language) was named FORTH because it was the FOURTH version, and the O/S, on the development system, only allowed FIVE characters for the name!

BTW good point about the download accellerator. Still, one should think twice before claiming some kind of fraud.

Steve

[seobro]

He probably got an error when he open up the ZIP file. Although downloading it 22 times sounds more like a problem with his connection. Please remember some people have poor connection and they need to start all over again.

Call the user to find out what the problem was. You ZIP file may have a bug in it that does not allow it to work on certain machines, for example old win 98 machines.