14 DAY TRIAL // The Anonymous group of hacktivists continue their DDoS campaign in support of WikiLeaks, with new attacks targeting Moneybookers and the Dutch National Police Service.
It seems the attacks on Moneybookers.com, an online payment service similar to PayPal, are somewhat retroactive in nature, because the organization has stopped doing business with WikiLeaks since August.
Meanwhile, the group’s beef with the Dutch police stems from the arrest of a 16-year-old teenager from Hague, who is believed to be one of the Operation Payback organizers.
However, it’s worth noting that Anonymous is more like a spontaneous gathering of Internet users with common beliefs, than an organization with established structure.
It has many sub-factions, which split off and act on their own, then rejoin the group. Its members are of different ages and have different backgrounds.
Media has described Anonymous as a group of hackers, but while there are some members with the knowledge and skills necessary to qualify as “hacker” or “cyber criminal," the vast majority of supporters are average users who only lend their computers for attacks.
There is a bit of a shock in the IT community that these attacks are so effective against high profile websites with solid infrastructures, especially since the number of active participants at any given time is usually in the hundreds.
However, some security researchers who monitor the situation have reason to believe that a botnet made up of 30,000 infected computers is also being used.
The group is also improving its tools. A Web-based version of the Low Orbit Ion Canon (LOIC) DDoS program has been spotted online.
This allows Anonymous sympathizers to launch attacks from any device equipped with a JavaScript-capable browser, including mobile phones and public computers.
The group has previously launched attacks against PayPal, MasterCard, Visa, PostFinance and the Swedish Office of Public Prosecutions.