Ever since the release of the latest Operation Ember Rise update, Rainbow Six: Siege servers have been hit by repeated distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. They’re perhaps the most frustrating experience in gaming, and to improve the experience, Ubisoft are bringing out the big guns: lawyers.
In a post earlier this week, Ubisoft confirmed that it had seen an increase in DDoS attacks and outlined what measures its taking to bring gameplay back to normal. Some of the changes are a natural response, like adjusting what packets are accepted by Rainbow 6 servers and reducing the amount of matches hosted by servers.
“When a server crashes, or when a DDoS/DoS attack occurs, this results in 3 matches being impacted and taken offline,” Ubisoft said, explaining that the change should result in a 66 percent reduction in the effect of DDoS attacks. “We are splitting this to have each server host a single match to reduce the impact.”
But along with infrastructural changes, partially on Ubisoft’s end and partially with Microsoft, which run the Azure data centres that Ubisoft uses, the publisher is also turning to its lawyers. “We will be issuing cease and desists to websites and people hosting these services. Legal action against prominent DDoS/DoS attackers is in progress.”
DDoS attacks are especially frustrating in Rainbow 6 because you lose ranking points every time you disconnect. It’s especially effective against Rainbow 6 because of the server setup: targeting a single server doesn’t just hit one game, but three. There’s also multiple forms of attacks, ranging from bringing the server down entirely, to making the gameplay so laggy that people quit of their own accord (what Ubisoft calls ‘stressing’).
Ubisoft’s lawyers aren’t likely to resolve the situation any faster than the infrastructural changes, although Take-Two has had some success in making cheaters accountable. It might take some time before the law can catch up with the operators of the pay-for-DDoS websites, and there’s no word on how long it will take Ubisoft and Microsoft to find better mitigation strategies on the server end. Fingers crossed justice moves swiftly.
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