Active & Past Server Emergencies

February 1, 2024

As of February 1, 2024 4PM (EST), Server Emergency Status #SE-011824-001 is lifted. The Server Administration Committee has cleared all threats of previous cyber attack, advanced the server's information security technologies, and security administration. The server's and our members' information security is restored. All gaming activities and online server events may resume. 

We appreciate our server members' understanding and  our server operators' hard work.

Best regards,

Server Committee

January 18, 2024

On January 17, 2024, from 9PM (EST) to 11PM (EST), our server operators observed abnormal lag and connectivity issues on the server, and restarting the server did not fix the issue. One of the actively online players in California, US also experienced an attempted cyber attack from the IP address 61.134.138.107, which supposedly belongs to People's Republic of China. On January 18, 2024 from near 12PM (EST) to 4PM (EST), soon after a server operator logged in his personal email on the server, his email was flooded with near 500 junk emails, and his bank payment information leaked. A server operator posted a complaint about this cyber attack on Chinese social media Xiaohongshu, which attracted a few people's responses that they experienced similar situation on their transnational cyber activities, the post was soon deleted by Xiaohongshu and the server operator's account was marked "law / rule violation". Before this cyber attack, our server was accessible in mainland China without the use of VPN, but after this cyber attack, our server is accessible in mainland China only through the use of VPN. Currently the server is likely still being monitored by the cyber attackers.

This is the first time Mass Island being a target of cyber attack in our four-year operating history. As a private, small, and low-budget Minecraft gaming server, rarely any entity should have the incentive to initiate cyber attack on us. Also considering that one of the active players on the night of January 17, 2024 when the cyber attack occurred was in Beijing, China, along with the characteristics of the above-mentioned cyber attack activities, we believe that this cyber attack incident is highly related to either civilian or government-controlled hackers from People's Republic of China.

Considering the severity of this cyber attack incident and potential threat to the privacy and information security of the server and our treasured players, the Server Administration Committee thereby declares Server Emergency effective from January 18, 2024 3PM (EST), which will not be lifted until further notice. The server will stay offline until the Server Emergency status is lifted. All gaming activities must cease, and all online server events are cancelled or delayed until the server reopens. 

During the Server Emergency, the server operators will investigate this incident, enhance server safety measures, and assess damage and loss. The official website, Discord, and social media accounts of Mass Island are unaffected, and updates on this incident will be promptly posted.

We apologize for the inconvenience and hope to be back online soon.

Best regards,

Server Committee