BBC services including the News iPlayer and iPlayer Radio went offline as a result of an alleged cyber-attack December 31, according to a statement by the media corporation. Following the statement, BBC reporter Rory Cellan-Jones confirmed the announcement on Twitter.
Alan Woodward, a visiting professor at the University of Surrey's department of computing, described the attack in an interview with Mirror Online as “large and sustained,” adding that, "The BBC is an obvious target and so it does take steps to mitigate any DDoS attacks."
So, far no person or entity has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
BBC spent at least four hours fixing problems with their various websites.
"The BBC website is now back up and operating normally. We apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced," the broadcaster’s statement reads.
The company’s troubles caused a burst in social media, with many expressing outrage while others hotly debated the causes and consequences of the hack.
sputniknews.com
1/1/16
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Anti-IS group claims cyber-attack on BBC, says was only a test...
ReplyDeleteA group of computer hackers that wants to target Islamic State has claimed it was behind a cyber attack on the BBC which it intended as a test of its own capabilities, according to messages sent to a reporter at the broadcaster on Saturday.
"It was only a test, we didn't exactly plan to take it down for multiple hours," the group called New World Hackers said in a message sent to the BBC's technology correspondent, Rory Cellan-Jones, which he posted on Twitter.
"We realise sometimes what we do is not always the right choice, but without cyber hackers ... who is there to fight off online terrorists?"
The BBC's online services, including its news website and iPlayer catch-up TV platform, were taken down for a few hours on Thursday by a large web attack. The broadcaster, citing sources inside the corporation, described as a "distributed denial of service (DDoS)" attack.
A DDoS attack typically targets sites by flooding servers with messages from multiple systems so they are unable to respond to legitimate traffic.
A BBC spokeswoman said the broadcaster would not comment on the claim of responsibility made by the group.
(Writing by William Schomberg, editing by Larry King)
REUTERS
2/1/16