WikiLeaks DOS Attacks Server Seized

WikiLeaks DOS Attacks Server Seized

In response to the WikiLeaks release of confidential U.S. diplomatic communications, several sites such as PayPal, MasterCard, and Visa prevented WikiLeaks from collecting donations via their financial channels. In response to their asts, a groups called Anonymous took credit for several denial of service (DOS) attacks against the financial companies’ web sites. During the attacks, the groups basically flooded the sites with traffic to the point of failure, thus preventing legitimate customers from accessing the sites.

In an effort to track down the responsible parties, the FBI made a raid at a web server hosting facility in Dallas, Texas on the 16^th of December. During the raid, the FBI seized one of the servers and copied information from two of the hard drives.

While it is not clear what information was gathered from the hard drives, the FBI was led to them by their IP address on the internet. According to documents, PayPal had supplied the FBI with several IP addresses which led back to the flow of traffic which shut down their sites. Because the traffic came from the servers does not place the blame with the hosting company, this was likely just the last of several hops for the hackers. But by examining the servers, the FBI may be able to trace the traffic back further.