This Year Our Adoption of IRC Turns 18
The other night I had a bad dream. I dreamt that our IRC network had been targetted and attacked by the same group/s which attacked other networks on Xmas Day (ish) and was too slow or too powerless to properly respond to it. We have used IRC for this site since 2008 and in 2009 were already got viciously attacked through IRC (for months upon months). I could no longer publicly say "gn" (goodnight) for fear it would give saboteurs a headsup or a clue (when to attack). We were also advised not to publicly talk about DDoS attacks as it would likely embolden the attackers or help them accomplish goals. Nowadays we try to silently/quietly mitigate or escalate internally. If the DDoS attacks are of considerable scale, and we moreover know how to deal with them, then they're safe to mention to everybody.
In 2023 we got attacked very badly in IRC and escalated the matter to the police, which actually did help and contributed towards a solution.
I still enjoy IRC a great deal in 2026. It's a fantastic communication tool that suits our needs and is generally reliable. █