Web attack takes Anonymous activists offline. 29 December 2010Last updated at 14:35 The 4Chan homepage is available but the main discussion boards have been hit hard The notorious message board 4Chan has been taken offline by an overwhelming web attack. Because of the attack, the discussion boards of the site have been hard to reach or offline for almost 24 hours. The attack might be retaliation for similar attacks that some 4Chan members, as part of the Anonymous group, mounted in support of Wikileaks. It is not yet clear who is carrying out the attacks and no-one has come forward to claim responsibility. News about the large-scale web attack, known as a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack, came to light via a message posted on Twitter by Moot, the founder of 4Chan. He wrote: "Site is down due to DDoS. A DDoS attack involves bombarding a server behind a website with data in an attempt to knock it offline.
Most recently, Anonymous members took action in support of whistle-blowing site Wikileaks. Défense de Wikileaks à coup d'attaques informatiques contre Visa. En tant que prise de position politique, une attaque par déni de service se situe quelque part entre courir nu sur le campus de votre université ou jeter une pierre dans la vitrine d'une boutique. C'est immature, pas joli joli, ni vraiment bien construit. Le point positif: c'est accessible à tout le monde, pas trop méchant et vous pouvez faire passer votre message –le message étant que vous voulez qu'on se mette à vous prendre au sérieux.
La DDoS, comme on l'appelle, a fait les gros titres cette semaine car elle est l'outil principal d'une flash mob en ligne autobaptisée Anonymous. Ces deux derniers jours, ils ont lancé des DDoS contre les sites internet de Visa, MasterCard, et d'autres entités qu'ils considèrent responsables d'attaques ou de diffamations contre WikiLeaks et son fondateur, Julian Assange. Jeudi matin, @Op_payback, un des comptes Twitter visiblement associés au groupe a donné certaines instructions visant à attaquer Amazon.com. Publicité Des attaques d'abord économiques. WikiLeaks : LOIC, l'outil clé en main de l'"Opération riposte"
Attaques contre le blog du service de paiement en ligne, PayPal, ou contre les sites de Visa et MasterCard. Pour protester contre le gel des comptes de WikiLeaks, des pirates informatiques ont lancé une "Opération riposte" sur le Web. Certaines de ces attaques semblent avoir été facilitées par un nouveau logiciel, mis à disposition par un groupe de pirates se faisant appeler Anonymous. Baptisé LOIC (Low Orbit Ion Cannon), en référence au film La Guerre des étoiles, le programme, dont la première version était disponible dès la fin 2009 en téléchargement, est pensé comme un outil, clé en main, permettant de participer à une cyber-attaque, sans la moindre compétence informatique.
Dans l'interface du programme, l'utilisateur n'a qu'à indiquer l'adresse URL "cible" du site Web qu'il compte attaquer. LOIC est même disponible sur toutes les plates-formes informatiques, qu'il s'agisse de Windows, de Mac ou de Linux. How social media changed protest. WikiLeaks: How supporters tried to take down Visa and MasterCard. - By Farhad Manjoo. As a political statement, a distributed denial-of-service attack ranks somewhere between running naked across your college campus and throwing a brick through a shop window.
It's juvenile, not very pretty, and not especially articulate. On the plus side, anyone can do it, it's usually not too damaging, and you do get your point across—the point being that you want the world to start taking you seriously already. Farhad Manjoo is a technology columnist for the Wall Street Journal and the author of True Enough. Follow The distributed denial-of-service is one of the oldest hacks on the Internet.
It's striking that DDoS attacks can still happen at all anymore. It's because the means of attack have been baked into the architecture of the Internet. Jose Nazario, a security researcher at Arbor Networks, says that network operators have tried to build more intelligence into Web servers. But DDoS-defense tools aren't perfect, and Nazario says they never will be. WikiLeaks: Who are the hackers behind Operation Payback? | Media. MasterCard was forced offline by activists protesting against the blocking of payments to WikiLeaks. Photograph: Tim Wimborne/Reuters The MasterCard website was forced offline for several hours today, following an online assault led by a shadowy group of hackers protesting against the card issuer's decision to block payments made to the WikiLeaks website.
The "distributed denial of service" attack was apparently orchestrated by a "hacktivist" group calling itself Anonymous, which has in recent days temporarily paralysed the websites of Post Finance, the Swiss bank which closed WikiLeaks frontman Julian Assange's account, and the website of the Swedish prosecution office. Twitter is next in its sights, following allegations that the social networking site is "censoring" visibility of the breadth of discussion of WikiLeaks by preventing it from appearing in Twitter's "trends". But who, or what, is – or are – Anonymous? Storyful. US Congressman, Ron Paul, who is nothing if not an independent thinker, has a take on the Wikileaks saga that is at odds with establishment politicians on Capitol Hill: These are the details of the allegations against Assange, which were dropped earlier this year, but have now been reinstated: The court heard Assange is accused of using his body weight to hold her down in a sexual manner.
The second charge alleged Assange “sexually molested” Miss A by having sex with her without a condom when it was her “express wish” one should be used. The third charge claimed Assange “deliberately molested” Miss A on August 18th “in a way designed to violate her sexual integrity.” The fourth charge accused Assange of having sex with a second woman, Miss W, on August 17th without a condom while she was asleep at her Stockholm home.
Even leading feminists are questioning the accusations of ‘rape’: @davesnape Thanks. Many commentators believe the charges to be a set-up in order to close down Wikileaks: More WikiLeaks: The 24-hour Athenian democracy. Channel 4 News: embed player. House cybersecurity activist bemoans apathy about countering threats. What Is LOIC? DDoS Free-For-All: MasterCard, Visa, Other Major Websites Hit In WikiLeaks Fallout - Darkreading.