DDoS attack brings Qatar's Al Jazeera website to its knees

Qatar-based news network Al Jazeera yesterday said it was being targeted with systematic hacking attempts.

DDoS assaults affecting Al Jazeera's websites and digital platforms follow a recent hack of the state news service that resulted in the promotion of false news and is blamed, in part, on an ongoing diplomatic crisis in the Gulf. The online attacks against Al Jazeera focused on its DNS resolution service, causing intermittent resolution failures.

This reportedly affected internal systems as well as the ability of surfers to reach Al Jazeera's website at times. TV broadcasts continued as normal.

Dr Malcolm Murphy, technology director for Western Europe at network security firm Infoblox, said: "While the precise nature and impact of the attack against Al Jazeera is still unclear, this is the latest in a number of targeted attacks against established institutions and these criminal groups show no signs of slowing down." ®