Dvach, Russian: двач, romanized: dvách)[25] is a Russian imageboard that replaced 2ch.ru imageboard (originally known as dvach) which was shut down earlier on January 17, 2009; it thoroughly copied original layout and was heavily advertised over the internet and managed to succeed the original one in popularity.[26] According to its owners number of posts left in the /b/ board exceeded 150 million.[27] In September 2016 a pro-Russian government organisation,[clarification needed] MAIL.RU, helped to organize "defense" against alleged DDOS attacks that took place during the same month; events raised concerns and speculations among users who grew suspicious over alleged takeover committed by the mail.ru and who criticized the owner's controversial decision to accept "help".[28][29][30] As of October 2018 It was widely believed that imageboard was simply "sold" on undisclosed terms to pro-government organisation.[30] The decision was met with high criticism of risks of disclosure of users' credentials in inherently anonymous-community to the government body that could potentially violate principles of anonymity, causing many to leave the board by the end of 2016.