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The Internet Archive is under a DDoS attack

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Re: The Internet Archive is under a DDoS attack

#51

Post by fmajid »

markus_zhang wrote: post #50
pixelpoet wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think "follow the money" is a decent heuristic here. Why else would anyone do it?

Is it possible for archive.org to trace back the IP addresses? I assume maybe the attackers used a lot of IoT devices or VMs in cloud?

Botnets usually, sometimes amplification attacks against NTP or DNS, although the Chinese government’s Great Firewall also has offensive capabilities known as the Great Cannon, although they are generally used against GitHub because it hosts censorship-circumvention software like VPNs.

Re: The Internet Archive is under a DDoS attack

#52

Post by fmajid »

neilv wrote: post #22
dxdm wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe it's a form of advertising certain capabilities and services.

IIUC, that's always a good theory for unexplained DDoS. Though, even if they have only profit motivations, I'm a little surprised when they don't seem to let ideology influence their selection of targets for demos. For the sake of argument (maybe not true), let's say that all techies are aware of archive.org, and consider it beneficial, probably using it themselves. Why don't they instead demo against a target that w…

Extortion is usually the motive. “Nice porn/gambling/crypto website you’ve got here. Shame if something happened to it”.

Re: The Internet Archive is under a DDoS attack

#53

Post by markus_zhang »

fmajid wrote: post #51
markus_zhang wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it possible for archive.org to trace back the IP addresses? I assume maybe the attackers used a lot of IoT devices or VMs in cloud?

Botnets usually, sometimes amplification attacks against NTP or DNS, although the Chinese government’s Great Firewall also has offensive capabilities known as the Great Cannon, although they are generally used against GitHub because it hosts censorship-circumvention software like VPNs.

Are botnets usually hosted on personal computers or servers or IoT? I'm thinking maybe archive.org can block a whole range of IPs if needed.

Re: The Internet Archive is under a DDoS attack

#55

Post by aniviacat »

neilv wrote: post #22
dxdm wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe it's a form of advertising certain capabilities and services.

IIUC, that's always a good theory for unexplained DDoS. Though, even if they have only profit motivations, I'm a little surprised when they don't seem to let ideology influence their selection of targets for demos. For the sake of argument (maybe not true), let's say that all techies are aware of archive.org, and consider it beneficial, probably using it themselves. Why don't they instead demo against a target that w…

Perhaps cruelty is the point.

Perhaps they intentionally attack targets that are generally seen in a positive light, to prove to potential customers that morale is not an issue.

Oh, you want me to DDOS a children's hospital? No problem.

Re: The Internet Archive is under a DDoS attack

#56

Post by prmoustache »

Simon_ORourke wrote: post #4

Why, what's the point in doing such nonsense? Unless it's someone with lots of money, contacts in the dark web, and some historic Barbara Streisand type chip on the shoulder.

My wild guess is most of them are ran by companies offering ddos mitigations services.

Re: The Internet Archive is under a DDoS attack

#57

Post by codexon »

Simon_ORourke wrote: post #4

Why, what's the point in doing such nonsense? Unless it's someone with lots of money, contacts in the dark web, and some historic Barbara Streisand type chip on the shoulder.

It's probably because someone saved incriminating evidence on it and they refused to take it down.

Re: The Internet Archive is under a DDoS attack

#59

Post by swinglock »

Simon_ORourke wrote: post #4

Why, what's the point in doing such nonsense? Unless it's someone with lots of money, contacts in the dark web, and some historic Barbara Streisand type chip on the shoulder.

Are you upset? Can't do nothing about it? It even made a headline or even just a thread on a forum? That's reason enough for some. It could easily be a teenager with no better excuse than not having a fully developed brain and no better reason than liking to ruin things. Having seen how much that happens, I guess it's more likely than a conspiracy or a crime with any rationality behind it.

Re: The Internet Archive is under a DDoS attack

#60

Post by jedberg »

aprilthird2021 wrote: post #41
jedberg wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To sell your services as an arsonist. Being able to point to a big successful attack helps professional DDoSers sell their services.

But wouldn't they need to telegraph the attack in advance to customers? Taking credit after the fact is risky as many competitors will also take credit

Yes, that is part of it. They tell potential clients, "On May 27th, I'm going to take down the Internet Archive". Then they do it, and then go back to their clients and say, "now that you've seen my work, do you want to pay me?".
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