Hacktivists boost WikiLeaks popularity

London, Dec 11: Online supporters of WikiLeaks, have engaged in a campaign of cyber attacks since WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's arrest in Britain. Internet security experts have said that, thousands of supporters have downloaded the attack software.

The website for Moneybookers- a British PayPal competitor, Amazon.web, MasterCard and Visa were under a cyber attack on Friday, Dec 10. This was following their termination of business with WikiLeaks. These websites have been struggling with the increasing demand for access that have been massively slowed down due to the attacks.

Even some govt websites have been attacked. A Dutch prosecutor said their website had been engulfed in attacks and they had grilled a 16 year old connected to the hit. According to sources, the suspect was involved in attacks on MasterCard and Visa websites as well. The teenager has been detained under judicial custody for 13 days, while they examine the case.

The hackers who are operating secretly, strongly believe that Assange did right by releasing the diplomatic cables. They also believe that information needs to be shared and is meant to be transmitted to all. WikiLeaks' freedom of information, as a campaign, is growing significantly with more than 1000 activists joining in a gap of just a week, sources said.

In the campaign in defense of WikiLeaks, groups consisting of five to ten core members occupy a private chat room on an Anonymous online forum, according to sources.

An international Internet security company Imperva said, “there has been more than 100 anonymous software that was downloaded in a day that were used to attack Moneybookers and other websites. When Mr.Assange was jailed in Britain in the Swedish case the number of downloads sprang to 10,000 in a day."

OneIndia News