zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Racing
/
Ransomware Attack Affecting 3,400 Businesses Was Responsible For Le Mans Stream Outages
Ransomware Attack Affecting 3,400 Businesses Was Responsible For Le Mans Stream Outages-February 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:11:21

The official paid live stream of this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans was unusually bad, for chunks during the race. Fans unhappy with the stream’s quality were advised to request refunds, but many were initially denied. Thankfully, it sounds like they’re finally making good on users’ refunds now that the dust has settled—and no user information was compromised.

The World Endurance Championship hosts the live stream for Le Mans, as the race is the flagship event of their season. Usually, it’s a fairly solid way to watch the entirety of the race without any commercial interruptions, however, this year, the series said that cyberattacks originating from Korea and the United States ground the service to a halt several time throughout the race.

A WEC representative explained to Jalopnik:

The main attack came from Korea and a smaller one from the US. Our experts consider that the problems encountered during this edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans probably echo the attack faced by the South Korean web hosting company NAYANA which was affected by the Erebus ransomware. Many sites were impacted by this attack, including media sites such as www.endurance-info.com.

NAYANA had 153 of its Linux servers infected with Erebus ransomware that affected 3,400 businesses that use its hosting service, per . The Erebus ransomware has no relation to the Australian Supercars team, thank goodness.

Fortunately, the WEC representative stressed that no user data was compromised in the attacks, and that the issue has been identified and fixed.

During the race, the WEC told frustrated users to email [email protected] for a refund through its social media accounts. However, users who emailed that contact address often found their requests denied. Additionally, the tweets advertising the refund were deleted, although the stayed up.

Here’s one of several responses Jalopnik was forwarded from frustrated users who wanted their ten euros for the Le Mans live stream back:

Our platforms have suffered attacks which prevented our serevers to respond properly.

We invite you to consult the GCU and in particular Article 6: [[]]

The entire race is available in replay.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused, please be assured that all teams are working hard to ensure the best possible availability of the Application & Live Web.

It is fixed now and you can watch live on the app and website.

Thank you for your understanding.

For users who specifically paid to watch the live stream in real time (live!), this wasn’t what they wanted to hear, especially after the WEC had publicized that they were offering refunds.

Fortunately, a series representative responded back that they’re now reconsidering these refund requests, all at the same address:

While the terms and conditions for users indicates that there is no obligation to make a refund, as the cause of the disruption was due to an external source, we will examine every case individually as our subscribers are very important to us. There is a team of people doing this at the moment so please ask any viewers/fans who contacted you to bear with us. Enquiries should be sent to .

So, if you sent a refund request because the race you paid to watch live wasn’t available then, try sending it again. Emphasize politely that you paid to watch it live, and include your order number for good measure.

Now that the traditional Le Mans hangover is over, it sounds like everyone’s finally on the same page and they’re finally honoring users’ refund requests. A user on posted that he had received a refund for his request today after trying it again, so that’s promising.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Racing
The Final Lone Star Le Mans Went Out With A Hell Of A Ride
The Final Lone Star Le Mans Went Out With A Hell Of A Ride
for the World Endurance Championship, there will only be one stop in America for us to enjoy next year, and that will be at Sebring. Austin’s Circuit of The Americas has hosted WEC each of the past five years, and I am probably not the only person who is sad...
Feb 12, 2026
Happy Couple May Be In Big Trouble For Allegedly Bribing Their Way Onto One Of F1's Strictest Tracks
Happy Couple May Be In Big Trouble For Allegedly Bribing Their Way Onto One Of F1's Strictest Tracks
If there’s anywhere I wouldn’t want to brag about getting away with anything, it’s Singapore—a country so strict, it . However, yet again, someone made it onto the track at Singapore when they weren’t supposed to. At least they ventured out there while the race wasn’t this time. A Facebook...
Feb 12, 2026
Ferrari Blaming Verstappen For Crashing Their F1 Cars Led To A Brutal Own From Mark Webber
Ferrari Blaming Verstappen For Crashing Their F1 Cars Led To A Brutal Own From Mark Webber
The first wet Formula One Singapore Grand Prix in history started with a bang. Max Verstappen’s Red Bull car became the filling in a messy Ferrari sandwich at the start of Sunday’s race. Whoever handles Ferrari’s Twitter account tried to place the blame on Max only to get put right...
Feb 12, 2026
The McLaren-Honda Split Really Does Sound Like A Bad Breakup
The McLaren-Honda Split Really Does Sound Like A Bad Breakup
McLaren-Honda was like the tumultuous relationship everyone had to keep tabs on in high school—the one doomed to not work out, but that somehow always showed up holding hands the next morning before class. So, naturally, is going about like you’d expect from a high-school relationship. McLaren finally , Renault,...
Feb 12, 2026
Thousands Of Flooded Hurricane Cars Finally Killed Texas World Speedway
Thousands Of Flooded Hurricane Cars Finally Killed Texas World Speedway
It was a hot afternoon—the kind that doesn’t belong in September, but, because it’s Texas, a few always manage to creep their way in. But, like all afternoons since 1968, there sat the monstrous, two-mile race track that once hosted the highest levels of American auto racing. Only this time,...
Feb 12, 2026
Josef Newgarden Is IndyCar's Awesome Young 2017 Champion
Josef Newgarden Is IndyCar's Awesome Young 2017 Champion
Josef Newgarden became IndyCar’s youngest champion in over a decade and the series’ first American champ in five years. Newgarden had the most number of wins this season, so the championship fits. This was Newgarden’s first year with Team Penske. At age 26, he’s the fresh young face IndyCar needed...
Feb 12, 2026
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved