Copyright groups that continue to target peer-to-peer file sharing remain in the cross-hairs of hackers looking to publicly humiliate their sites by defacing and knocking them offline.
Both the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) had their official websites attacked by hackers as retaliation for recent anti-piracy attacks initiated by copyright groups.
"The most significant aspect of this event, in addition to the damage caused, is that it could mark the first mass cyber protest of its kind on the Web," noted Luis Corrons, PandaLabs technical director, in a recent statement. "This attack is an example of the potential for future cyber protests and the difficulty in pinpointing and stopping them."
The RIAA website was taken down by DDoS attacks at least 24 times over the weekend -- and the MPAA website suffered 37 interruptions and almost two hours of being disconnected.
A recent interview with an Indian software developer responsible for launching attacks against pirate websites confirmed it was also attacked by 4chan. In the future, 4chan is expected to continue carrying out organized DDos (distributed denial of service) attacks against these groups and more are expected to take place in the future.
A DDoS attack against the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) was unsuccessful, but was expected when it took place on Monday, Sept. 20.
The 4chan group has had three successful and one failed attack already. 4chan doesn't mind taking responsibility for attacks, with security company Sophos confirming an attack against Indian-based Aiplex Software.
4chan users have urged action against YouTube, Twitter, and several other popular sites. It's unknown if larger sites were targeted and brought down by DDoS sites, as YouTube and other sites have much stronger security measures against cyber attacks.
Do you think these type of retaliations are appropriate responses to the anti-piracy initiatives led by copyright groups?
