Formgrids’ dark cloud has a silver lining
WHEN David Safi started Formgrids in 2004, he
didn’t foresee its instant and huge popularity with
punters. When the website was taken off line due to
a massive hacker attack in August this year, it had
enjoyed near 115-million page views. Thousands of
die-hard punters were lost at sea. Queries flew in
from all quarters, to all quarters.
Now, for the first time in almost 15 years,
individuals in high levels of the industry have had to
take notice of the Formgrids success story, and have
expressed a welcome willingness to assist. With a bit
of luck, we could see the website back on line before
year-end.
Intended as a revolutionary form tool, the original
Formgrids site required extensive and ongoing
software developments to reach maximum
effectiveness. The site was not designed for financial
gain and Safi funded everything, including a staff
compliment, from his own pocket. Over time he
gained some advertising customers, but not near
enough to cover expenses. This labour of love has
cost him a small fortune.
Safi explained: “We wanted Formgrids to educate
punters about collateral form, including the strength
or weaknesses of certain form lines, which lie at the
heart of successful betting. Formgrids has greatly
improved the betting fortunes of many punters and
they’re all stuck without their regular guides today.
Happy punters come back to bet again, frustrated
punters give up and go elsewhere!”
On August 22, Safi was advised that the Formgrids
database had been hacked in its entirety, and was
wrapped in malware. The best local web technicians
were not able to remove the malware, and with the
site being hosted in the US there were communication
problems with the host due to the
time difference. The supervisor was never available
when Safi tried to phone, and the “sup” couldn’t
get a hold of the South African either.
“It was a nightmare. We decided to move the site
with all its data to a South African host and we
were about three-quarters of the way done when
we suffered another attack and everything came to
a standstill. This time there was a message from
the hackers demanding a ransom of three Bitcoins
to release our data. At the time Bitcoins were
worth about R60,000 each,” said Safi.
“I investigated hacking and found that the ransom
thing was becoming a regular occurrence, though
in some cases hackers failed to remove their
malware after the required ransoms had been paid.
We decided against it and we were essentially
snookered.”
Trainer Joe Soma and his nephew Gabi, big
supporters of Formgrids, came to the rescue.
Safi told: “Joe and Gabi offered to approach Larry
Wainstein of the Racing Association and after
they’d met I received good news. Larry was
willing to approach his board and we have since
been informed that they will be giving us
assistance in getting Formgrids back on line.
“As luck would have it, we backed up all
the Formgrids data late in 2016, so we
won’t have to start from scratch. Gold
Circle has kindly agreed to help us write the
software script to fill in all the data blanks,
the form we have lost since being hacked.
They say it will take a few weeks and we’re
hopeful!”
Safi concluded: “I am humbled by the good wishes
we have received and pleased by the gestures of
good will and by the individuals who have set out
to assist us.
“Formgrids flourished for many years without
industry assistance, but it has been a long and
tough road for us. Imagine the heights we’ll be
able to achieve with some help from the people
who run racing!”
Last edit: 7 years 9 months ago by Dark Horse Thoroughbreds.
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