Cloudflare Incident: Difference between revisions

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Created page with "On January 21st, 2025, Cloudflare placed a phishing warning on Our World of Text after an unknown party hit the site with false reports. Six days later, that same party had also reported OWOT's sister website Your World of Text. Due to Cloudflare's poor customer support system, both communities had difficulty removing the warning from their sites. But OWOT developer FP and YWOT creator Andrew Badr were able to file disputes with Cloudflare, leading their..."
 
 
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On January 21st, 2025, Cloudflare placed a phishing warning on Our World of Text after an unknown party hit the site with false reports. Six days later, that same party had also reported OWOT's sister website [[Your World of Text]].
[[File:OWOT_phishing_warning.png|thumb|Phishing message|238x238px]]
On January 21st, 2025, Cloudflare placed a phishing warning on Our World of Text after an unknown party hit the site with false reports. Six days later, that same party also reported OWOT's sister website [[Your World of Text]].


Due to Cloudflare's poor customer support system, both communities had difficulty removing the warning from their sites. But OWOT developer [[Fp|FP]] and YWOT creator [[Andrew Badr]] were able to file disputes with Cloudflare, leading their warnings to be removed on March 11th and April 9th respectively.
Due to Cloudflare's poor customer support system, both communities had difficulty removing the warning from their sites. But OWOT developer [[Fp|FP]] and YWOT creator [[Andrew Badr]] were able to file disputes with Cloudflare, leading their warnings to be removed on March 11th and April 9th respectively.
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In the intervening time, the two World of Text communities took part in countless jokes at the expense of Cloudflare's unreasonable policies.
In the intervening time, the two World of Text communities took part in countless jokes at the expense of Cloudflare's unreasonable policies.


== Cloudflare ==
=== Cloudflare Policies ===
Cloudflare has a tendency of flagging websites without fact checking their reports. And once a website is cleared, there's nothing stopping it from being flagged right again.<gallery mode="packed" heights="200">
File:Static file reported.jpg
File:Owot phishing immediately after.jpg
File:Owot phishing owot.me.jpg
File:Cloudflare botched.jpg
</gallery>
=== Glitches ===
Sometimes, clicking "Ignore and Proceed" on the warning page will result in a 403 error, forcing users to restart the page and click it again.
This glitch is guaranteed to happen if the "Ignore and Proceed" button is located right beneath the "Learn More" button on the warning page.
Sometimes, clicking "Ignore and Proceed" will do nothing at all, forcing users to click it multiple times to access their websites.<gallery mode="packed">
File:Owot 403 forbidden.png
File:Fp three times.jpg
</gallery>
*
== Timeline ==
* [[File:CF_tweet.png|thumb|Public shaming attempt(''January 26th, 2025'')]]'''<u>January 21st, 2025:</u>''' OWOT is flagged for phishing<ref>[[Weekly Briefing Release 20 Jan 19 - Jan 26]]</ref>
* '''<u>January 26th, 2025:</u>''' FP sends a public tweet towards @Cloudflare requesting attention towards the fact that the report hasn't been handled for the past five days
* '''<u>January 27th, 2025:</u>''' OWOT is cleared for the first time
* '''<u>January 27th, 2025:</u>''' YWOT is flagged for phishing
* '''<u>January 29th, 2025:</u>''' OWOT is hit with a second phishing warning<ref>[[Weekly Briefing Release 21 Jan 26 - Feb 2]]</ref>
* '''<u>March 11th, 2025:</u>''' OWOT is cleared a second time  
* '''<u>March 29th, 2025:</u>''' FP files a dispute on behalf of YWOT
** Andrew Badr had already filed a dispute, but it was ignored by Cloudflare
* '''<u>April 9th, 2025:</u>''' YWOT is cleared
== Community Sentiment ==
=== OWOT ===
[[File:To catch some phish.jpg|thumb]]
<gallery widths="300" heights="150">
File:Hit phishing website.jpg
File:Cl**dflare.png
</gallery>
=== YWOT ===
<gallery>
File:Fp cloudflare 2.jpg
File:PunchMatthewPrince.jpg
</gallery>
== Potential Perpetrators ==
== Gallery ==
[[File:Crackflare.png|center|thumb|620x620px|Created using a feature that allows FP to [[Displaying Images in OWOT|display images on OWOT's background]], which has only been used a handful of times throughout the site's history.]]
[[File:Slc warning.png|center|thumb|621x621px|From [https://ourworldoftext.com/slc2 /slc2].]]
<gallery mode="packed" heights="200">
File:Owot phish tank.png
File:Owot phishing schemes.jpg
File:Perfect for phishing.png
</gallery>
[[File:Owot phishing.png|border|center|frameless|746x746px]]
=== YWOT ===
<gallery mode="packed" heights="200">
File:Suspicious fish.png
File:Fishing.jpg
File:Ywot phishing 4.png
</gallery>
== References ==
[[Category:History]]
[[Category:History]]
[[Category:Events]]
[[Category:Events]]
[[Category:Your World of Text]]

Latest revision as of 20:35, 27 October 2025

Phishing message

On January 21st, 2025, Cloudflare placed a phishing warning on Our World of Text after an unknown party hit the site with false reports. Six days later, that same party also reported OWOT's sister website Your World of Text.

Due to Cloudflare's poor customer support system, both communities had difficulty removing the warning from their sites. But OWOT developer FP and YWOT creator Andrew Badr were able to file disputes with Cloudflare, leading their warnings to be removed on March 11th and April 9th respectively.

In the intervening time, the two World of Text communities took part in countless jokes at the expense of Cloudflare's unreasonable policies.

Cloudflare

Cloudflare Policies

Cloudflare has a tendency of flagging websites without fact checking their reports. And once a website is cleared, there's nothing stopping it from being flagged right again.

Glitches

Sometimes, clicking "Ignore and Proceed" on the warning page will result in a 403 error, forcing users to restart the page and click it again.

This glitch is guaranteed to happen if the "Ignore and Proceed" button is located right beneath the "Learn More" button on the warning page.

Sometimes, clicking "Ignore and Proceed" will do nothing at all, forcing users to click it multiple times to access their websites.

Timeline

  • Public shaming attempt(January 26th, 2025)
    January 21st, 2025: OWOT is flagged for phishing[1]
  • January 26th, 2025: FP sends a public tweet towards @Cloudflare requesting attention towards the fact that the report hasn't been handled for the past five days
  • January 27th, 2025: OWOT is cleared for the first time
  • January 27th, 2025: YWOT is flagged for phishing
  • January 29th, 2025: OWOT is hit with a second phishing warning[2]
  • March 11th, 2025: OWOT is cleared a second time  
  • March 29th, 2025: FP files a dispute on behalf of YWOT
    • Andrew Badr had already filed a dispute, but it was ignored by Cloudflare
  • April 9th, 2025: YWOT is cleared

Community Sentiment

OWOT

YWOT

Potential Perpetrators

Gallery

Created using a feature that allows FP to display images on OWOT's background, which has only been used a handful of times throughout the site's history.
From /slc2.

YWOT

References