AlphaRed: Unprofessionalism And Possible Invasion Of Privacy

A friend and I ordered a dedicated AlphaRed server, drawn in by the excellent pricing.

We were problem-free for a few days, until I noticed my irssi (IRC chat client) screen detach. I assumed I accidentally pressed something, and continued chatting. Then it happened again, and a few more times. I looked at the last people to login to my shell, and it showed that an AlphaRed employee had logged into both 'root' and my personal shell. The employee was reading my chat logs in real-time.

The AlphaRed employ did not only read my chats, but participated as well. You may find logs that here: pastebin.ca/raw/1057127

Some excerpts:

05:05:40 <@infid3l[eMo]> hm..
05:05:48 <@infid3l[eMo]> =D i love finding hacked shells
05:05:52 <@infid3l[eMo]> especially when they're on my network
05:06:01 <@infid3l[eMo]> and then snatching control of them =D =D
05:06:44 <@lifelike> = d
05:06:53 <@infid3l[eMo]> so whats up ppl
05:06:58 <@infid3l[eMo]> sorry to break into your conversation =D

and:

05:08:00 <@infid3l[eMo]> lol=D
05:08:30 <@infid3l[eMo]> I guess infid3l wants the screen back
05:08:35 <@infid3l[eMo]> eh, i'll give it back.
05:08:41 <@lifelike> lol who u
05:08:42 <@infid3l[eMo]> I'm watching you =D
05:08:55 <@infid3l[eMo]> I'm Alpha Red's network admin
05:08:59 <@lifelike> looool
05:09:01 <@infid3l[eMo]> I run the network this box is on

I then realized that this AlphaRed employee thought that I had somehow hacked the machine and gained root access. This box was unmanaged, yet the employee did not consult the owner to verify that I was a legitimate user. When the employee discovered I had not hacked the box, he claimed that IRC daemons were against the AUP. Below is the only mention of IRC in the AUP:

``11. Clients running IRC daemon are required to take immediate action on notification of any botnet or suspected

DMCA activity on the server. Such action shall include immediately closing any channels related to such activity.

Clients refusing to take such action or provide access to Alpha Red to take such action will have all access to the IRC
daemon ports blocked and may be terminated without further notice.'

When I made the employee aware of this, he claimed there were complaints made about the IRC server. When I asked what the nature of the complaints were, he said he was not at liberty to discuss it. I personally doubt there were any complaints, as the IRCd was completely legitimate and exclusive.

I talked to the employee via ``wall'' messages via the root shell for a while. When I mentioned how unprofessional his way of dealing with the situation was, he told me he had control over the network and he didn't have to be professional.

While talking on the phone the employee told me I should have notified AlphaRed about running an IRCd. Nowhere in the AUP did it say anything about notifying AlphaRed. The employee acted like it was common sense -- which to me, it wasnt.

With no evidence of illegitimate activity, AlphaRed still refuses to allow an IRCd to run on our box. Even though it was their mistake, we are the ones paying for it.

AlphaRed offered no apology, and only left us inconvenienced.