By Carey Wedler
On Friday morning, a large-scale hack of an Internet domain hosting provider took prominent websites including Netflix, Amazon, Reddit, Twitter, and Vox offline. Though many of the websites have since been restored, others remain compromised at the time of this article’s publication, the likely result of a second attack waged later in the morning.
As Mashable reported, Dyn, a New Hampshire-based company that hosts domain name systems, announced Friday morning it had been hacked. “Dyn said at 9:20 a.m. ET that it resolved an attack that began at 7 a.m. ET Friday. But at 11:52 a.m. ET, the company said an attack had resumed.”
The outlet explained just how central Domain Name Servers are to the basic functioning of the Internet:
Domain name systems (DNS) are essentially the GPS of the internet, taking the text URLs you type into a browser and figuring out where those websites’ data is located on the back end. So when you type mashable.com in a browser, it shows you both the real Mashable and can quickly and easily locate the nearest server that hosts the site’s data.
In other words, as Gizmodo explained:
Basically, they act as the Internet’s phone book and facilitate your request to go to a certain webpage and make sure you are taken to the right place.
Wired noted that in both the 7 am and noon attacks, “traffic to Dyn’s Internet directory servers on the East Coast of the United States was stopped by a flood of malicious requests disrupting the system.”
Gizmodo reported emails from their readers seemed to suggest the second attack affected the West Coast and Europe.
Some outages occurred in Asia but the United States took the brunt of the attack, which has been identified as a DDoS attack — a “distributed denial of service.” As detailed by Wired:
A DDoS attack overwhelms a DNS server with lookup requests, rendering it incapable of completing any. That’s what makes attacking DNS so effective; rather than targeting individual sites, an attacker can take out the entire Internet for any end user whose DNS requests route through a given server.
When a server is overwhelmed with malicious requests, as well as by unsuspecting users repeatedly hitting “refresh” on their browser and automatic re-requests, the system becomes even further stressed.
During the first outage, Dyn’s executive vice president, Scott Hilton, attempted to relieve concerns about the takedown. “We have been aggressively mitigating the DDoS attack against our infrastructure,” he said.
How to Disappear Off the Grid Completely (Ad)
For now, it remains unknown where the attack originated. Companies whose websites were hit by the initial attack included Business Insider, CNN, Etsy, the Guardian, I Heart Radio, GrubHub, HBO Now, People, PayPal, Fox News, Urban Dictionary, the Wall Street Journal, Kayak, People, Weather.com, the New York Times, and many others.
Many of these sites have been restored, but sites like the Guardian, Twitter, Soundcloud, and People, for example, remain down at the time of this article’s publication.
The implications of the attack are myriad. First, of course, is the issue of cyber security and the ability of hackers to break into Dyn’s DNS.
As Steven Morgan, founder of Cybersecurity Ventures, a research firm, explained to Mashable (which, along with Wired, was also taken offline in the attack early Friday morning):
Hackers have no rules. One of the problems we have is that they move much faster than cyber-defenders. A DDoS attack can be launched in literally seconds, or under an hour if it’s coordinated by a larger group.
The broader implication, however, may be the growing climate of fear-mongering surrounding hackers and cyber security. Hillary Clinton and the DNC have used Cold War rhetoric to imply Russian hackers are responsible for the ongoing, embarrassing leaks that have emerged this election cycle. These claims are arguably attempts to deflect focus from the actual misdeeds uncovered in the leak.
Further, this week vice president Joe Biden implied the U.S. government might soon wage a cyber attack against Russia, apparently aligning behind claims Russian hackers are attempting to influence the upcoming presidential election.
In truth, the political establishment has long been ramping up rhetoric against hackers, in general. Considering many hackers perform vital functions in the digital age — most notably, exposing government crimes — it is unsurprising the establishment is claiming more control is necessary to protect companies, government infrastructure, and the integrity of the American electoral process.
It’s likely this attack will be used as further evidence such an objective is valid, if not vital.
UPDATE 4:45 pm EST: CNBC reports Dyn says a third DDoS attack is currently underway
This article (Someone is Literally Trying to Take Down the Internet Right Now) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Carey Wedler and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11 pm Eastern/8 pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, please email the error and name of the article to [email protected].
Geee!….Wouldn’t have anything to do with all the CEO’s of major corporations like Google et al backing Hillary to the max like Shultz…after all, who could surreptitiously orchestrate something like this?…. in hopes of framing the Russians to insidiously misdirect public attention… when all her skeletons are falling ignominiously out of her clandestine criminal enterprise closet, so close to the election?…another inside job?
I think a lot of this is due to the fact that the Internet backfired on them. It was meant to be the latest, greatest social engineering/data mining operation ever. Turned out to be enough of a conduit that, despite their intentions, developed into a million soapboxes for the people who have been on to the game for years, but had no easy method to publish. They’re stuck. They’d love to shut down the dissenters, but they would have to shut down their most valuable spy tool to do so. Just wait until the net goes peer to peer. If they shut down the main conduits, you can expect peer to peer communication skyrocket. Once that happens, the alt currencies will crush the government spewed intaglio toilet paper. They’ve spread themselves far too thin, and the idiots who they hire as minions are now just more straws on the camel’s back. And, worse, yet, they’re going to have an extremely difficult time getting ‘pay to play’ to sell , n the future, unless they force Clinton on the populace. Their biggest problem isn’t all the skeletons in Clinton’s closet. It’s the fact that she is so hated, merely for her blase ‘let them eat cake’ attitude. I don’t think she’s going to like the haircut that comes with it.
…That’s an interesting perspective if the live-stream random logic domino’s fall in that particular order…question: since the regulation of the internet was just handed-off to the UN…Why would ‘peer to peer’ remain untouched by the NWO regulators?…thinkin I’m unaware of the implications …could you point me to a link that can elucidate further?
…What strikes me, is the delicacy of the internet… when at a press of a finger ‘everything’ they want gone…will be gone…. with firewalls like China.
…& yes the citizens are ‘revolting’ Antionette Medusa
Among other interests of mine, the electronics/technology field is probably about as familiar to me as any other. Right now, the infrastructure is controlled by the banksters. So, cable/DSL/telco connections dominate. But technology like software defined radio, near field communication, wifi, etc., are likely to change in, the near future. Peer to peer will be impossible to control with all the different tech China is selling. Peer to peer means no central control. At first, it’s going to be rather local, in the sense that very few people have the transmission capability to broadcast to large areas, but I suspect that with the spread of cheap technology, we’ll see some type of publicly accessible repeaters that will kick start the system. I don’t have any links that point to this, because I don’t think too many people see this coming. It’s going to be the tech hobbyists that make this reality. I’ve been looking into the drone market, and it seems to me that once people start to see what can be done, the possibilities will increase exponentially. Also, when the current economic system melts down, the infrastructure will be up for grabs. What happens to the satellites, then? The banksters might have control for now, but their true problem will surface when it comes time to keep them running when their money system is gone. It’s the technicians that know how the equipment works. All the banksters know is the capabilities. It’s one thing to know what a computer is capable of. It’s another thing dealing with keeping it working.
Well I couldn’t have asked for a better explanation…What comes to mind is that the unrepentant capitalists in this $$$ system will literally sell you the rope that hangs them! (lol)
…I only bought my first PC 5-6 yrs ago…so I’m a dinosaur & a neophyte(lol) but I understand logic ….& this is good for other people to bone up as well…cheers
Our own government could be doing this and we would never know. Well some of us would know whom are awake to these shenanigans.
False Flag Operations….
“Someone” is actually something, and that thing is the corporation masquerading as our federal government along with their globalist bosses and buddies who are in on the whole scam to create chaos everywhere so they can rush in on their white goats and further terrorize us with their special brand of global order.
The corporation/government relationship is nothing more than game theory. The federal government is, and always was, rule of the elite, foisted on an unsuspecting populace. It was laways a blight, but some people think the system can be ‘reformed’ or ‘taken back’. They just don’t get it.
Bingo~ well said.
so much for the first amendment here on “activist post”. You try to be an “activist” and they will delete your comment! I guess they believe that they are suppose to be the activist and we are just to sheeple along with them?
Disqus is a social engineering/data mining psyop. Same with AP. They give you just enough freedom to fool you. They censor and deny, and then they let slip the occasional clue. Many of these sites have had to do damage control when it becomes obvious. They thought a few sockpuppet trolls could shout down whatever the censors didn’t like, keeping the censorship somewhat hidden. Unfortunately for them, there’s enough people who call out the shills.
YEP! Nevertheless I still deleted my AP e mail newsletter. I even e mailed them hoping I would get a response like I did with Google on you tube. I wrote a long comment on you tube and they would not allow it twice, yes I posted it twice, then I posted a comment on top of the article.Then they e mailed me telling me I can’t send comments like that, and I replied to the e mail telling them that if we do not do something very soon their grandchildren will have no freedoms like they have enjoyed. I even accused them of being threatened by NSA/CIA. Next time I went to the page I tried to comment on my comment was there plain as day, it was the next day and my comment was right on top.
All we can say about the “hacking” of the internet is WHO BENEFITS THE MOST??? HER INITIALS ARE HILLERY KKKLINTON!
remember the sony hack? a weeks notice and FBI cyber task force notified immediately…then a week later the hack is successful?
So pentagon, cia, dia, fbi, nsa dhs etc couldnt stop it with warning. F-35 has chinese parts.. pentagon hacked by china 3 times over.
Then during an election….HRC has leaks coming out from wikileaks? his inet goes down… then a video (project veritas) shows insane corruption and criminal activity. Then another inet outage.
keep trying HRC. but the best that can happen is you lose. The worst is you win and get impeached. Thats coming i assure you. Remember how much the republicans spent over monicas blue dress? make it x10.
Sure glad the muslim Hussein obama gave the Internet away to China, Russia and Iran last month. At least America won’t get blamed when all connectivity is lost.
Should have been worried back in 1992 when you ignored Ross Perot’s warning about china. But instead you climbed into bed with china instead. Remember Clinton selling night in the Lincoln bedroom? Red Chinese were found to have contributed to his campaign. oh and then mysteriously nuclear secrets disappear.
also look up operation Merlin….lets give iran nuclear bomb plans. whew.
Both sides of the aisle are complicit and just acting out a show for us.
a narrative.
lastly, yes obama is one of the worst…but not much more than bush 43…
It’s a progression, and it’s all a distraction. All the governments are in the pockets of the banksters. The US constitution was written by a bunch of self proclaimed elite, who come from a long line of pirates, thieves, spies and slavers. The governments are progressive psyops to enslave humanity.
All goes back to the Vaticano/Jesuit/Freemasons
Goes back farther than that.
Merlin is a great example, here’s a more recent one:
US And Israel Quietly Provide Military Support And Parts To Iran, Which In Turn Is Arming Syria http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-02-23/us-israel-providing-military-supports-and-parts-iran-which-turn-arming-syria
All Because BO handed the internet over to the UN. Hmmm….. Coincidence? I think not totally planned to happen. All about power and control over the people.
The internet has always been controlled by the banksters. It was in US ‘hands’ because the US military was backed by the banksters, until the next empire was ready for them to finance. Governments are just another bankster ploy to divide and conquer.
Too bad more people did not understand this principle. All the special interest groups (BLM, occupy movement, ETC) created by the banksters are making certain we the people never unite. Those who understand the principle of UNITED WE STAND must yell it from the rooftops. We need to get ahead of the game. The banksters are keeping one step ahead because the sheeples are not waking up fast enough
There’s really very little we need to unite for. Self sufficiency will kill the bankster scheme. The banksters are a step ahead because they have to be, in order to lead. All we need to do is stop following. They rely on our cooperation with them. Without that, they are helpless.
And go figure – THE GOVERNMENT CANT BE TO BLAME – because domain names are now in “private” hands now “and totally safe and fore the best of the internets security” – yeah …. probably got bought off. This has been a plot of Clinton, Obama and the elitist establishment. Botnet the entire eastcoast to test a total Botnet attack on the US by none other than the NSA – blame it on a “SOLAR FLAIR” and now that Obama just the other day, signed an Executive Order about space storm emp protection that goes hand in hand with some other executive orders where he can declare the entire nation under “state of emergency” and declare “martial law” – shutting down internet, telephone, gas, water, interstate systems transit including waterway, air and leaving a city “zone” while going door to door securing your firearms for “the safety of the people” — This all sounds made up right? Why’s it fit together so well? Because these are all Facts of what Obama can do. “Right Wing Conspiracy Theory” right? That’s what everyone thought about everything else – UNTIL THE MOST IMPORTANT DOCUMENT LEAKS IN AMERICAN HISTORY STARTED GETTING RELEASED BY WIKILEAKS – THE AGENCY WHO’S BEEN OPEN FOR 10 YEARS, RELEASED OVER 10 MILLION DOCUMENTS – with not a single file being a lie, made up, edited, debunked – but rather, confirmed with trick questions to the Clinton campaign, DOJ FBI Director all the way up to Obama – that prove that the emails are legit to their core (then there’s that d*mn pesky RAW data with each document lol)
But “what difference does it make?” lol – A NEW REPUBLICAN PARTY – A NEW MEDIA FOLLOWING – A NEW ALTERNATIVE MEDIA FOLLOWING — THAT’S THE MEDIA BY THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE – THE “RIGHT WING EXTREMISTS” HILLARY TOUTS US OUT TO BE AND VOWS TO MAKE ILLEGAL IF SHE BECOMES PRESIDENT DAMNING OUR FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS. — Do a story on all this 😉
The HillbillygoatSoros crime syndicate. ICANN, you may not.
Blame it on the boogie man or russia.
SHEandHEandTHEYareDESPICABLE
Common sense says that Russia benefits most by all the e mails being made public by wikileaks, so you cannot blame despicable putin even if he is the enemy of freedom.