3 ms·

Bluehost is a Mormon-owned and run web hosting operation, which I first discovered when I tracerouted a site they host for a copyright issue and noticed the ser

by dotBen 16y ago

Bluehost is a Mormon-owned and run web hosting operation, which I first discovered when I tracerouted a site they host for a copyright issue and noticed the servers were based in Salt Lake City (odd place for a colo, I thought, so I did some digging). Now, there's nothing wrong per se with a business owned by people of any faith, creed or beliefs. But they are known to police and uphold their TOS based on their beliefs - lax on some sites and harsh on others depending on the constitution of the site - and to me that feels wrong and inappropriate in a business environment. It's long, but you can read more at http://news.lavenderliberal.com/2009/07/17/bluehost-vs-the-lesbians/ http://news.lavenderliberal.com/2009/07/17/bluehost-vs-the-l... or just google bluehost + mormon. It's certainly fair to say that they don't operate from a neutral perspective like I would expect all other web hosts to behave. I think they deserve to be called out for it. The point is, by hosting your stuff with a Mormon-operated outfit you have a higher chance of being a target for hacking compared to a 'secular' (I want to say 'normal' but that might be misconstrued as I'm not saying Mormons are not normal) hosting company because there are many people out there who have issues with the Mormon movement (like spending resource from their base in Utah to push Prop 8 through here in California http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-kim/rethink-review-em8-the-mo_b_627147.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-kim/rethink-review-em...). Plus they host a lot of pro-mormon controversial stuff (see the first link) which is going to upset a lot of people. I would argue that most hackers who are not motivated by financial gain have some bone or issue with the people they are attacking. I know, cos I used to be one. Back to hosting... if I was running a site, I think I'd just want to host with a webhost that treated all of its clients normally and didn't bring religion/politics/etc into it's business practices and thus make myself a target by association.

alttab 16y ago
While you make an incredibly interesting point (especially considering ALL of my freelanced clients are on Bluehost as it was cheap and fit their PHP needs perfectly), I would be hesitant to pull the religion card on this one. Not because its not possible that a disgruntled anti-Mormon hacker targeted them for an attack (you've made a good argument for that), but that once you play that card, its difficult to take it back. Ancillary Note: I doubt the one-off nature of the attack, and because of the way Bluehost handled it I will no longer be using Bluehost, or its subsidiary - Hostmonster.com, in the future. If you guys are reading this - you just lost a lot of future customers.
- dotBen 16y ago
  I think you raise a good point, and you are right one needs to be careful about 'the religion card'. However, when I perform analysis of a security incident I want to consider both the technical means that was exploited but also an understanding of why it took place in the first place. Apart from worms/etc, most hack attacks involve human effort, time and skill and so people don't do them without a strong motivation. It might be financial but if it isn't then I want to get into the head of the attacker and understand why. In conclusion, all I'm saying is that if you are an innocent hostee on Bluehost who is wondering why you got attacked, it might be because some anti-mormon hackers decided to get into their shit. And if you didn't know Bluehost was a super pro-Mormon outfit, you'd have never known or be armed with the information to make an informed choice of where you put your website.

by dotBen 16y ago

alttab 16y ago

While you make an incredibly interesting point (especially considering ALL of my freelanced clients are on Bluehost as it was cheap and fit their PHP needs perfectly), I would be hesitant to pull the religion card on this one. Not because its not possible that a disgruntled anti-Mormon hacker targeted them for an attack (you've made a good argument for that), but that once you play that card, its difficult to take it back. Ancillary Note: I doubt the one-off nature of the attack, and because of the way Bluehost handled it I will no longer be using Bluehost, or its subsidiary - Hostmonster.com, in the future. If you guys are reading this - you just lost a lot of future customers.

dotBen 16y ago
I think you raise a good point, and you are right one needs to be careful about 'the religion card'. However, when I perform analysis of a security incident I want to consider both the technical means that was exploited but also an understanding of why it took place in the first place. Apart from worms/etc, most hack attacks involve human effort, time and skill and so people don't do them without a strong motivation. It might be financial but if it isn't then I want to get into the head of the attacker and understand why. In conclusion, all I'm saying is that if you are an innocent hostee on Bluehost who is wondering why you got attacked, it might be because some anti-mormon hackers decided to get into their shit. And if you didn't know Bluehost was a super pro-Mormon outfit, you'd have never known or be armed with the information to make an informed choice of where you put your website.