5 ms·

ZomboCom stolen by a hacker, sold, now replaced with AI-generated makeover

76 points by bananaboy 7mo ago

tengbretson 7mo ago
I knew anything was possible at ZomboCom, but damn. I never expected this. Guess that's ZomboCom for ya.
- samplatt 7mo ago
  I didn't think I'd be the first person in this (or the reddit) thread to call this new site ZombieCom, but not gonna lie I'm pretty happy about it.
fred_is_fred 7mo ago
The thread is lacking any detail on how the site was stolen and sold. Perhaps the "OG owner" as the poster calls it sold it for money?
- bananaboy 7mo ago
  Yeah I'm not sure. I haven't found anything else yet about this. The reddit poster posted this screenshot of an email with the (apparently) original owner https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fzombocom-was-stolen-by-hacker-put-up-for-sale-and-has-now-v0-9u33svykiskg1.png%3Fwidth%3D680%26format%3Dpng%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D4ba7fee757ef6e1973dc2c851c79d7ad7d9a37e7 https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd....
  - Retr0id 7mo ago
    A more direct source for the screenshot: https://old.reddit.com/r/InternetIsBeautiful/comments/1qz3it6/zombocom_updated_today_and_has_been_ruined/o4bb1ho/ https://old.reddit.com/r/InternetIsBeautiful/comments/1qz3it...
TurdF3rguson 7mo ago
How does a hacker steal a website? So many questions.
- silisili 7mo ago
  You steal the domain name, not the website so to speak. Which would mean someone got their registrar credentials most likely.
  - TurdF3rguson 7mo ago
    And transferred it away? Registrars make it really hard to do that if you're not the actual person. I'm finding it hard to believe someone can do this anonymously.
    - iwontberude 7mo ago
      Yeah that’s because it’s not what happened. It’s a common expiration snipe.
      - TurdF3rguson 7mo ago
        That's neither hacking nor stealing
        coldtea 7mo ago
        Legally and technically no, but it borders on both...
        TurdF3rguson 7mo ago
        No it doesn't. If you were careless and let your domain expire, anyone can register it. There is no legal gray area here. If you otherwise have a copyright claim to the name that's a separate issue.
      - rezonant 7mo ago
spullara 7mo ago
shoot i show that to people every once in a while
paularmstrong 7mo ago
html5 zombocom still exists, for your viewing pleasure. you can do anything at zombocom. anything at all. the only limit is yourself. [1]: https://html5zombo.com/ https://html5zombo.com/
- iugtmkbdfil834 7mo ago
  It will never, ever, get old.
- jancsika 7mo ago
  Ooh, I really want to change those svg paths to svg circles. :)
shagie 7mo ago
The last week of January, the site was intermittently serving back a 429 response (too many requests) as recorded by the wayback machine. https://web.archive.org/web/20260000000000*/Zombo.com https://web.archive.org/web/20260000000000*/Zombo.com In the first week of February, the site was down. On the 8th, it was serving an error page from centos. On the 9th, it was serving the new content. https://lookup.icann.org/en/lookup https://lookup.icann.org/en/lookup for zombo.com shows that it was updated on 2026-02-09 20:34:17 UTC I believe that a more reasonable explanation would be that the domain name expired, someone saw that being the case, bought the domain name and hosted their own version of it. I'm not sure that "stolen" is the proper verb to use, or that "hacker" is the appropriate attribution.
- bananaboy 7mo ago
  Thank you for the explanation!
- DANmode 7mo ago
  That’s what the current page claims, legitimate registration by “New Management”. > Welcome to… New Management. This domain was purchased openly via GoDaddy. We come in peace (and with a wallet): we’d love to also purchase the rights to the former site's content to help revive the infinite. Until then, everything here is new & unique. Old content rights owners, please reach out. Anything is possible.
- Sophira 7mo ago
  > the domain name expired It's possible to tell from an rdap call that this isn't the case: Event: Action: registration Date: 1999-10-10T10:57:47Z Event: Action: expiration Date: 2028-10-10T10:57:47Z Event: Action: last changed Date: 2026-02-09T20:34:17Z The current registration occurred in 1999. Typically, domain registrations are extended in yearly multiples, which can be seen by the fact that it expires on October 10th, the same day that it was registered. If it expired in 2025, then that expiration would have occurred in October. That said, you are probably correct that it wasn't a hacker as such. GoDaddy was indeed offering it for sale in February, according to a Reddit thread from that month[0]. That makes me wonder why... [0] https://www.reddit.com/r/oldinternet/comments/1qy566h/is_zombocom_for_sale/ https://www.reddit.com/r/oldinternet/comments/1qy566h/is_zom...
callbacked 7mo ago
if there is any consolation, this is still up https://github.com/Jonty/zombocom/ https://github.com/Jonty/zombocom/ https://welcometozombo.com https://welcometozombo.com
ParadisoShlee 7mo ago
This is a real shame and I hope the original owners get it back... but that ai slop song is actually a banger
- Kim_Bruning 7mo ago
  Right? I grabbed it! Noticed the text says they're willing to host the original content and they'll pay for it?
mattoxic 7mo ago
Another little corner of the internet is gone. Had to check... but this is still here https://dack.com/web/bullshit.html https://dack.com/web/bullshit.html
deleted 7mo ago
[deleted]
tombert 7mo ago
I never imagined this happening. I guess the limitation really was my mind.
OuterVale 7mo ago
That's a shame. Now I can't do anything at ZomboCom.
- nnx 7mo ago
  The only limit is yourself!
  - modriano 7mo ago
    *was
Kim_Bruning 7mo ago
Crappy flash gets replaced by crappy ai gen. Truly the art of the previous generation surpassed by the art of the next. I ... honestly have very limited grounds for complaint here.
coldtea 7mo ago
That's like when the Library of Alexandria was burned
webjac 7mo ago
I guess the hacker could do anything… at zombocom

76 points by bananaboy 7mo ago

tengbretson 7mo ago

I knew anything was possible at ZomboCom, but damn. I never expected this. Guess that's ZomboCom for ya.

samplatt 7mo ago
I didn't think I'd be the first person in this (or the reddit) thread to call this new site ZombieCom, but not gonna lie I'm pretty happy about it.

fred_is_fred 7mo ago

The thread is lacking any detail on how the site was stolen and sold. Perhaps the "OG owner" as the poster calls it sold it for money?

bananaboy 7mo ago
Yeah I'm not sure. I haven't found anything else yet about this. The reddit poster posted this screenshot of an email with the (apparently) original owner https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fzombocom-was-stolen-by-hacker-put-up-for-sale-and-has-now-v0-9u33svykiskg1.png%3Fwidth%3D680%26format%3Dpng%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D4ba7fee757ef6e1973dc2c851c79d7ad7d9a37e7 https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd....
- Retr0id 7mo ago
  A more direct source for the screenshot: https://old.reddit.com/r/InternetIsBeautiful/comments/1qz3it6/zombocom_updated_today_and_has_been_ruined/o4bb1ho/ https://old.reddit.com/r/InternetIsBeautiful/comments/1qz3it...

TurdF3rguson 7mo ago

How does a hacker steal a website? So many questions.

silisili 7mo ago
You steal the domain name, not the website so to speak. Which would mean someone got their registrar credentials most likely.
- TurdF3rguson 7mo ago
  And transferred it away? Registrars make it really hard to do that if you're not the actual person. I'm finding it hard to believe someone can do this anonymously.
  - iwontberude 7mo ago
    Yeah that’s because it’s not what happened. It’s a common expiration snipe.
    - TurdF3rguson 7mo ago
      That's neither hacking nor stealing
      - coldtea 7mo ago
        Legally and technically no, but it borders on both...
        TurdF3rguson 7mo ago
        No it doesn't. If you were careless and let your domain expire, anyone can register it. There is no legal gray area here. If you otherwise have a copyright claim to the name that's a separate issue.
    - rezonant 7mo ago

spullara 7mo ago

shoot i show that to people every once in a while

paularmstrong 7mo ago

html5 zombocom still exists, for your viewing pleasure. you can do anything at zombocom. anything at all. the only limit is yourself. [1]: https://html5zombo.com/ https://html5zombo.com/

iugtmkbdfil834 7mo ago
It will never, ever, get old.
jancsika 7mo ago
Ooh, I really want to change those svg paths to svg circles. :)

shagie 7mo ago

The last week of January, the site was intermittently serving back a 429 response (too many requests) as recorded by the wayback machine. https://web.archive.org/web/20260000000000*/Zombo.com https://web.archive.org/web/20260000000000*/Zombo.com In the first week of February, the site was down. On the 8th, it was serving an error page from centos. On the 9th, it was serving the new content. https://lookup.icann.org/en/lookup https://lookup.icann.org/en/lookup for zombo.com shows that it was updated on 2026-02-09 20:34:17 UTC I believe that a more reasonable explanation would be that the domain name expired, someone saw that being the case, bought the domain name and hosted their own version of it. I'm not sure that "stolen" is the proper verb to use, or that "hacker" is the appropriate attribution.

bananaboy 7mo ago
Thank you for the explanation!
DANmode 7mo ago
That’s what the current page claims, legitimate registration by “New Management”. > Welcome to… New Management. This domain was purchased openly via GoDaddy. We come in peace (and with a wallet): we’d love to also purchase the rights to the former site's content to help revive the infinite. Until then, everything here is new & unique. Old content rights owners, please reach out. Anything is possible.
Sophira 7mo ago
> the domain name expired It's possible to tell from an rdap call that this isn't the case: Event: Action: registration Date: 1999-10-10T10:57:47Z Event: Action: expiration Date: 2028-10-10T10:57:47Z Event: Action: last changed Date: 2026-02-09T20:34:17Z The current registration occurred in 1999. Typically, domain registrations are extended in yearly multiples, which can be seen by the fact that it expires on October 10th, the same day that it was registered. If it expired in 2025, then that expiration would have occurred in October. That said, you are probably correct that it wasn't a hacker as such. GoDaddy was indeed offering it for sale in February, according to a Reddit thread from that month[0]. That makes me wonder why... [0] https://www.reddit.com/r/oldinternet/comments/1qy566h/is_zombocom_for_sale/ https://www.reddit.com/r/oldinternet/comments/1qy566h/is_zom...

callbacked 7mo ago

if there is any consolation, this is still up https://github.com/Jonty/zombocom/ https://github.com/Jonty/zombocom/ https://welcometozombo.com https://welcometozombo.com

ParadisoShlee 7mo ago

This is a real shame and I hope the original owners get it back... but that ai slop song is actually a banger

Kim_Bruning 7mo ago
Right? I grabbed it! Noticed the text says they're willing to host the original content and they'll pay for it?

mattoxic 7mo ago

Another little corner of the internet is gone. Had to check... but this is still here https://dack.com/web/bullshit.html https://dack.com/web/bullshit.html

deleted 7mo ago

[deleted]

tombert 7mo ago

I never imagined this happening. I guess the limitation really was my mind.

OuterVale 7mo ago

That's a shame. Now I can't do anything at ZomboCom.

nnx 7mo ago
The only limit is yourself!
- modriano 7mo ago
  *was

Kim_Bruning 7mo ago

Crappy flash gets replaced by crappy ai gen. Truly the art of the previous generation surpassed by the art of the next. I ... honestly have very limited grounds for complaint here.

coldtea 7mo ago

That's like when the Library of Alexandria was burned

webjac 7mo ago

I guess the hacker could do anything… at zombocom