WikiLeaks endures a lengthy DDoS attack
Under a barrage of more than 10GB per second in a DDoS attack, the document-leaking organization's Web site has been either inoperable or sluggish since the beginning of the month.
It's unclear who or what is after WikiLeaks, but the document-leaking organization claims someone is.
According to its Twitter feed, the organization has sustained a several-day Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack that has left its Web site effectually inoperable.
"The attack is well over 10Gbits/second sustained on the main WikiLeaks domains," read one of several tweets the organization posted on Friday. "The bandwidth used is so huge it is impossible to filter without specialized hardware, however... the DDoS is not simple bulk UDP or ICMP packet flooding, so most hardware filters won't work either. The range of IPs used is huge. Whoever is running it controls thousands of machines or is able to simulate them."
Apparently WikiLeaks' Web site has been slow moving or inaccessible since the beginning of August, according to the Associated Press.
WikiLeaks sent out a statement on Saturday saying that a recently registered Twitter account called Anti Leaks claimed responsibility for the attacks. It hasn't been verified if the DDoS was pulled off by Anti Leaks and even if it was, it's unclear who is behind Anti Leaks.
WikiLeaks is no stranger to cyberattacks. Having amassed several enemies, many of which are governments, the organization's Web site seems to be defending itself often. After several DDoS attacks and increasing financial and political pressure in 2010, WikiLeaks had to restructure its Web site in order to bolster its electronic defenses.
As of today, the Web site is still sluggish but WikiLeaks appears to remain emboldened. "Is that all you've got?" it tweeted today. "Keep attacking, our skin just gets harder. DDoS proof, financially & geographically diverse. We're ready to rumble."