I, and many other ops-ish people I know, cringed at the obvious caching error that seemed like the most likely culprit. The "in the middle of a DDoS" makes it

I, and many other ops-ish people I know, cringed at the obvious caching error that seemed like the most likely culprit. The "in the middle of a DDoS" makes it make a lot more sense, and while this is still a cringeworthy situation, the cringing at least on my part is now more sympathetic than horrified.