Extra Life Shrugs Off DDoS Attack, Raises $3.7 Million For Children’s Hospitals

As confusing, callous acts go, hacking a charity fundraising site in the middle of its efforts to raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals has to rank right up there.

That happened this past Saturday in the middle of the Extra Life gaming marathon. While players all over the world were playing video and board games for 24 hours straight (and 25 in places that were falling back from Daylight Savings Time), someone launched a Distributed Denial of Service attack at the Extra Life website. That intermittently prevented people from making last minute pledges on the day of the event as visitors found the site unaccessible.

Todd Levy, managing partner at Extra Life’s technology provider DonorDrive, said the DDoS attack overwhelmed the site but did not compromise any personal data.

“What happened to extra-life.org was not caused by a ‘hack’ or any compromise to security,” he said.  “A DDoS attack is like being stuck in a big traffic jam, not like having your car stolen. All personal information on the site was and continues to be safe.”

Despite the mean-spirited DDoS, Extra Life still managed to raise $3.7 million for the CMN hospitals, bringing in $2 million before the event and an additional $1.7 million during the weekend. It was a figure that made Extra Life founder Jeromy “Doc” Adams feel much better about mankind in general.

“My belief in humanity was momentarily shaken then viciously reinforced. GJ FTK gamers. 3.5 and counting,” Adams said on Twitter.

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