Roughly 12 hours ago worldwide hacker group Anonymous called on its masses to assemble and begin targeted denial of service attacks on multiple websites of governments. Most recently it targeted DC.gov and NYC.gov in these attacks, which lasted well over an hour. The target list seems to be expanding, though it is as yet unclear how large or widespread the attacks really are.
Though not Anonymous proper, a group calling itself “AlQaedaSec“ seems to be the root of today’s action and is organizing under the primary Twitter tags of #AlQaedaSec #tangodown #91FUN and #UGNazi. Many sites have been knocked off the Internet and remain in that condition now, with additional targets being tossed up every hour or so. Far as we can tell the list of targets have included everything from DC.gov, NYC.gov, anti-piracy.nl, and mossad.gov.il to name a few.
Anything from government websites to pro media sites appear to be targets and many remain offline at this time. Though there appear to be many attacks under way, there are no reports of anything other than denial of service attacks taking place.
A typical approach for Anonymous is the use of denial of service attacks and organization via Twitter. However, this attack has echoes of the former LulzSec organization and followers. Either way it appears a few new organizations and players are in the mix, even as Interpol and other international partners continue to round-up these hackers as they locate them. DDOS style attacks are typically more annoying than anything else to those who fall victim. It seems the ability of Anonymous and its allies to organize quickly and execute is still something to pay attention to.
Stay tuned to aNewDomain.net for more information as it becomes available.
I am Chris Poirier and this is aNewDomain.net keeping you up to date.
