• not a real WTF (unregistered)

    Not a real WTF. The obvious solution is to test the knife on the consultants who deleted the backups, while screaming "is_admin? no!"

    Also, the quality of the comments on this site has really gone downhill.

  • arms (unregistered) in reply to QJ
    Interesting: Chrome gets you to the disaster recovery story, Firefox gets you to the knife sharpening page. Now let's try IE ... Very neat. Has anyone else noticed that the story you get depends on the browser you use to see it, or am I frist?

    Almost but not quite, for me it's ...

    Firefox = DR Chrome = Knifes IE = Code SOD

  • Anon (unregistered)

    Nicely Done TDWTF, the joke should've been on whoever would read the comments and try to make sense of them when users would comment on three different stories based on the browswer they use, leave it to coders to ruin it for them.

  • QJ (unregistered) in reply to Anon
    Anon:
    Nicely Done TDWTF, the joke should've been on whoever would read the comments and try to make sense of them when users would comment on three different stories based on the browswer they use, leave it to coders to ruin it for them.

    Not coders, it's us software consultants who are contracted to ensure the s/w they design is functional on a wide range of broswers (today's game: how many different spelloes can we come up with for "brwosers"?).

  • trwtf (unregistered) in reply to QJ
    QJ:
    Interesting: Chrome gets you to the disaster recovery story, Firefox gets you to the knife sharpening page. Now let's try IE ...

    ... aha, a CodeSOD about an order tracking website.

    Very neat. Has anyone else noticed that the story you get depends on the browser you use to see it, or am I frist?

    As always, the commenters are TRWTF:

    $art = Math.floor(Math.random() * $arts.length);

    Simple randomisation, browser choice is irrelevant.

  • bloog (unregistered) in reply to trwtf
    trwtf:
    QJ:
    Interesting: Chrome gets you to the disaster recovery story, Firefox gets you to the knife sharpening page. Now let's try IE ...

    ... aha, a CodeSOD about an order tracking website.

    Very neat. Has anyone else noticed that the story you get depends on the browser you use to see it, or am I frist?

    As always, the commenters are TRWTF:

    $art = Math.floor(Math.random() * $arts.length);

    Simple randomisation, browser choice is irrelevant.

    Obvious troll is quite apparent.

  • QJ (unregistered) in reply to trwtf
    trwtf:
    QJ:
    Interesting: Chrome gets you to the disaster recovery story, Firefox gets you to the knife sharpening page. Now let's try IE ...

    ... aha, a CodeSOD about an order tracking website.

    Very neat. Has anyone else noticed that the story you get depends on the browser you use to see it, or am I frist?

    As always, the commenters are TRWTF:

    $art = Math.floor(Math.random() * $arts.length);

    Simple randomisation, browser choice is irrelevant.

    Good call. Interestingly, though, whatever I use to read it, a different story appears in each different browser.

  • peer_review (unregistered) in reply to steenbergh
    steenbergh:
    Malice? Malice?

    Who the fXck is Mailce?

    Of course M(s). Alice. Heard she has an innate ability to kick trolls and other mutants.

  • Tiran Kenja (unregistered) in reply to Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward:
    From the RSS feed entry for this article:

    An unexpected error occurred in RssFormatProviderFactoryBase (line 401) while formatting Attributed to Malice for RSS. The article may be accessed directly via the following link: http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/Attributed-to-Malice.aspx.

    It's April 1st. I am guessing that's why.

  • trwtf (unregistered) in reply to bloog
    bloog:
    Obvious troll is quite apparent.
    I'm not trolling, it's true.
    QJ:
    Good call. Interestingly, though, whatever I use to read it, a different story appears in each different browser.
    It sets a browser cookie to make sure that once you have visited the article once, you will always see the same article. Of course, if you then try a different browser it won't have the same cookie so you have a 2 in 3 chance of seeing a different article. Cute trick, shame everybody picked up on it so soon really.
  • Ilya (unregistered)
    his login processes has been in production on our order tracking website for at least five years. Thankfully we have either non-tech savvy or non-malicious users.
    Damnint! Looking through the page source, I was trying to use it to login to thedailywtf.com Did not realise it was a text, not a comment in code.
  • anonymouse (unregistered) in reply to lolwtf

    OSHA doesn't come to your workplace and push the window washers off the scaffolding in order to test the safety harness. BIG WTF here.

  • jl (unregistered) in reply to lolwtf

    The WTF is deleting production data and its backups. These idiots apparently would run a fire drill with 10 gallons of gasoline and a match.

  • Anon (unregistered) in reply to QJ
    trwtf:
    As always, the commenters are TRWTF: 
    $art = Math.floor(Math.random() * $arts.length);
    Simple randomisation, browser choice is irrelevant.

    In my defense, I'm no "software consultant who is contracted to ensure the s/w they design is functional on a wide range of browsers"

    QJ:

    Not coders, it's us software consultants who are contracted to ensure the s/w they design is functional on a wide range of broswers (today's game: how many different spelloes can we come up with for "brwosers"?).

    or a decent typer...

  • the guy behind you (unregistered)

    TRWTF was me, looking for WTFs in jquery.min.js ;)

  • HenkVos (unregistered) in reply to lolwtf
    lolwtf:
    So data recovery guys test their plan for recovering from a worst-case scenario in which their system, all databases, and all backups are lost. They recover from off-site backup.

    I'm not seeing a WTF here.

    I do. It's like setting fire to a building and before that making sure to empty all the extinguishers and putting a nail in every tire at your local fire department.

    There are some things you just don't do for fun or profit. I don't understand how the auditors can live with themselves. Let's just hope that they get taught a lesson some day and see the error in their ways.

  • the guy behind you (unregistered) in reply to anonymouse
    anonymouse:
    OSHA doesn't come to your workplace and push the window washers off the scaffolding in order to test the safety harness. BIG WTF here.

    I have a 'nice' picture of a guys busted testicles after falling into a not-so-well-adjusted seat harness. Probably worthy of rotten.com. Just sayin'.

  • Lucas Franceschi (unregistered) in reply to lolwtf

    Well, if you note, the param that will tell the SetSession script to set the session as admin or not is just a hidden field in the form... that means, if you open a javascript console and change the value of that input, BAM, you're admin.

  • fritters (unregistered) in reply to HenkVos
    HenkVos:
    I do. It's like setting fire to a building and before that making sure to empty all the extinguishers and putting a nail in every tire at your local fire department.

    There are some things you just don't do for fun or profit. I don't understand how the auditors can live with themselves. Let's just hope that they get taught a lesson some day and see the error in their ways.

    What would have happened if the IT guy wasn't on the ball enough to have off-site backups? The company would have been totally screwed.

    But what I don't understand is how they were given access to delete all the data in the first place. They were simply given a root password and told to go nuts?

  • Mike (unregistered) in reply to lolwtf
    lolwtf:
    So data recovery guys test their plan for recovering from a worst-case scenario in which their system, all databases, and all backups are lost. They recover from off-site backup.

    I'm not seeing a WTF here.

    I'm pretty sure testing consultants for worst-case scenarios aren't actually supposed to cause those scenarios - just simulate them.

  • (cs)

    When you view this site in Opera, it prints out the ASP.NET source code for this site.

  • (cs) in reply to Sudo
    Sudo:
    Wait... what's going on with the "two stories on different pages" thing here? What am I commenting on?

    Disappointed, sudo. Please hand over your geek badge.

  • Why_Me (unregistered) in reply to lolwtf

    There is a rather large difference between running a "test" worst-case scenario and actually causing harm to a company. In the first part you simulate the causes of the action by shutting down servers properly or disconnecting them from the network, locking files and saying they were "destroyed". In this case the data recovery guys actually caused some real unrecoverable damage. I am sure they did recover from off-site backup but judging by the size of the company I would be surprised if they got it all back...

  • trwtf (unregistered) in reply to Sudo
    Sudo:
    Wait... what's going on with the "two stories on different pages" thing here? What am I commenting on?
    I'm glad someone fell for it!
  • LH (unregistered) in reply to lolwtf

    The WTF is that they tested against the plan. Deleting your production data on purpose shouldn't be even considered a "test." What if the plan failed? (and they actually expected it to!) How do you recover from that?

  • (cs)

    The real WTF is people have forgotten what date it is.

  • Neil (unregistered)

    I don't understand the frist story of the three...

  • Boris Vladamir (unregistered)

    I don't see strangeness here. We practice many tests on cadavers. How else can they be tested?

  • robert (unregistered) in reply to lolwtf

    Then you're not looking hard enough. An auditing company went, looked at their recovery plan, and deleted every portion of the recovery plan. They didn't actually audit anything, they just figured out how to make the recovery plan fail. An audit involves checking things like which databases aren't in the recovery plan. An audit involves simulating the absence of databases, say by taking them offline. Not deleting them.

  • WTF, you say? (unregistered) in reply to lolwtf

    Unless I'm mistaken, your comment is the true WTF here.

  • (cs)

    Of course if he were really on the ball, a copy of the off-site backups would have accompanied him to the pub.

  • ping floyd (unregistered) in reply to lolwtf
    lolwtf:
    So data recovery guys test their plan for recovering from a worst-case scenario in which their system, all databases, and all backups are lost. They recover from off-site backup.

    I'm not seeing a WTF here.

    Maybe it's the drugs...

  • keith (unregistered)

    "At least we got to test our offsite backups that day. I left the company before I found out how the lawsuit ended."

    If leaving in the near term was in the cards anyway, would it have been more fun or less fun to make a principled resignation right after stating that those were the backups?

  • (cs) in reply to lolwtf

    That's real simple, the real WTF was that they gave the consultants access to do all this stuff. They may as well have had them detonate a neutron bomb in the data center. The point of the exercise to me would be how quick do we get up and running from a temporary data center. Not restoring in the same DC from offsite backups. Assuming redundant failover in the DC, the next logical step is the offsite DC.

    (Mind you it doesn't say where anything was restored to.)

  • doug (unregistered) in reply to lolwtf

    There are a couple of WTFs here. The first is you never intentionally require the use of offsite data without first ordering it to be returned so it is available. It would have been better take the boxes down and put a sticky on them saying "this hardware is dead" without actually deleting anything. Remember that when the drill is over, you still have a company to run. The second is that this was done during business hours. Doesn't this mean that the non-IT people were dead in the water? That was one seriously expensive drill.

  • (cs) in reply to hoodaticus
    hoodaticus:
    When you view this site in Opera, it prints out the ASP.NET source code for this site.
    When you open this site in Safari, it shows an Irish girl gallery
  • dan (unregistered)

    April fools?

  • hpa (unregistered) in reply to lolwtf

    TRWTF is giving a "disaster drill" company a blank check to do anything they apparently wanted.

  • Lucas Franceschi (unregistered)

    april 1st! 3 stories... what shuold i comment?

  • (cs) in reply to HellKarnassus
    HellKarnassus:
    hoodaticus:
    When you view this site in Opera, it prints out the ASP.NET source code for this site.
    When you open this site in Safari, it shows an Irish girl gallery
    I hope it's the real Irish Girl and not the one that Alex went on a long and windy walk with...
  • Jeff (unregistered) in reply to Malice
    Malice:
    That would be me, I like long walks on the beach, knives and stabbing.
    The user support horror stories were yesterday. Try to keep up.
  • Larry (unregistered) in reply to Mark
    Mark:
    A demo which caused an actual outage that can only fixed via offsite backups is a _HUGE_ WTF.
    And what if the powerpointers were right and the admins actually didn't have solid backups? Where would we be then, sunshine? That's right. Your disaster drill just turned into a going-out-of-business drill.
  • eric (unregistered) in reply to lolwtf

    I think the point was that these auditors were only supposed to simulate a major disaster, not actually cause one.

  • Frank (unregistered)

    Trying to trick us into commenting on three different articles was a brillant idea, even if it didn't last very long.

    ... and just when I was thinking Alex doesn't love us anymore.

    (Oh and if your browser is Lynx, you get twelve pictures of Irish Girl naked!!!!!)

  • george (unregistered)

    April fool?

  • (cs)

    The real wtf is that the auditors didn't also find the offsite backup site, sneak in and slag the drives. I mean, you should be prepared for anything, right?

    They also failed to kidnap the company's IT department, or start any fires in the building.

  • (cs)

    RIP Stephen King

    ...and Sarah Palin.

  • (cs) in reply to lolwtf

    So you see no problem with them making their point by literally destroying key data and disrupting the business? Why did they stop there? Why not burn down the building and shoot the employees in the head while you are at it?

    A good audit can simulate all of these scenarios without actually doing them. Causing damage to a production environment costs companies money. Even if you are trying to prove a point. A good conference meeting could have accomplished the same objectives without killing the business.

  • (cs) in reply to frits
    frits:
    RIP S tephen King ...and S arah Palin.

    Murder/suicide, huh? No one ever listens until it's too late.

  • (cs) in reply to lolwtf
    lolwtf:
    So data recovery guys test their plan for recovering from a worst-case scenario in which their system, all databases, and all backups are lost. They recover from off-site backup.

    I'm not seeing a WTF here.

    So you see no problem with them making their point by literally destroying key data and disrupting the business? Why did they stop there? Why not burn down the building and shoot the employees in the head while you are at it?

    A good audit can simulate all of these scenarios without actually doing them. Causing damage to a production environment costs companies money. Even if you are trying to prove a point. A good conference meeting could have accomplished the same objectives without killing the business.

    I seriously hope you never try to demonstrate how easy it is to get away with murder.

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