Basecamp, a popular online project management service was hit with a DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attack earlier this morning, which they seem to have recovered from.  A DDoS attack is fairly simple, what generally happens is the attacker(s) will shut down the web servers by performing an unusually large number of page requests in a short time, usually with some automated help.  This influx of page requests overwhelms the servers and causes them to shut down.

According to Basecamp’s blog, the unknown individual or group performing the attack attempted to extort money from Basecamp in return for page functionality, but the offer was refused.  Although the site is up and running now, previous victims of the same group have reported an on-and-off method of attack, so there is a possibility of future attacks.  

GitHub, Fotolia.com, and MeetUp.com all underwent similar attacks recently, and it appears to have been the same group and modus operandi for each case. 

Basecamp is an excellent tool for businesses and project administration, and they have dealt with the situation admirably, turning to Twitter and Gist to keep users updated on the attack and the site itself in real time.