Current:Home > Contact-usAP news site hit by apparent denial-of-service attack-InfoLens
AP news site hit by apparent denial-of-service attack
View Date:2024-12-23 11:15:07
The Associated Press news website experienced an outage that appeared to be consistent with a denial-of-service attack, a federal criminal act that involves flooding a site with data in order to overwhelm it and knock it offline.
Attempting to visit the apnews.com site starting Tuesday afternoon would load the home page, although links to individual stories failed in various ways. Some pages remained blank, while others displayed error messages. The problem was resolved by Wednesday morning.
AP’s delivery systems to customers and mobile apps were not affected by the outage.
“We’ve experienced periodic surges in traffic but we’re still looking into the cause,” said Nicole Meir, a media relations manager at the company. When engineers thought they had a handle on surging traffic from one source, she said, it would resurface elsewhere.
A hacktivist group that calls itself Anonymous Sudan said on its Telegram channel Tuesday morning that it would be launching attacks on Western news outlets. The group subsequently posted screenshots of the AP and other new sites as proof they had been rendered unreachable by DDoS attacks.
“The propaganda mechanism is rather simple,” said Alexander Leslie, an analyst with the cybersecurity firm Recorded Future. “The actor conducts a temporary attack, screenshots ‘proof’ of an outage that often lasts for a short period of time and affects a small number of users, and then claims it to be a massive success.”
AP has not been able to verify whether Anonymous Sudan was behind the attack.
veryGood! (413)
Related
- 2 dead in explosion at Kentucky factory that also damaged surrounding neighborhood
- Iran’s president urges US to demonstrate it wants to return to the 2015 nuclear deal
- ACM Honors 2023 broadcast celebrates Tim McGraw, Chris Stapleton, more country stars
- Polish police briefly detain lawmaker who interrupted prime minister’s speech
- Powerball winning numbers for Nov. 13 drawing: Jackpot rises to $113 million
- Crash tests show some 2023 minivans may be unsafe for back-seat passengers
- Police are investigating the death of a man following an ‘incident’ at a New England Patriots game
- 'Heartbroken': Dartmouth football coach Buddy Teevens dies at 66 from bike accident injuries
- Waymo’s robotaxis now open to anyone who wants a driverless ride in Los Angeles
- Japan records a trade deficit in August as exports to China, rest of Asia weaken
Ranking
- Dozens indicted over NYC gang warfare that led to the deaths of four bystanders
- Untangling the Deaths of Models Nichole Coats and Maleesa Mooney
- NFL power rankings Week 3: Saints, Steelers tick up after 'Monday Night Football' wins
- 16 states underfunded historically Black land-grant universities, Biden administration says
- 'I heard it and felt it': Chemical facility explosion leaves 11 hospitalized in Louisville
- Bears caught on camera raiding Krispy Kreme doughnut van at Alaska military base: They don't even care
- Mexican railway operator halts trains because so many migrants are climbing aboard and getting hurt
- Tornado kills 5 people in eastern China
Recommendation
-
Wind-whipped wildfire near Reno prompts evacuations but rain begins falling as crews arrive
-
Tunisian president’s remarks on Storm Daniel have been denounced as antisemitic and prompt an uproar
-
Colombia announces cease-fire with a group that split off from the FARC rebels
-
Hyundai rushing to open Georgia plant because of law rewarding domestic electric vehicle production
-
Mother of Man Found Dead in Tanning Bed at Planet Fitness Gym Details His Final Moments
-
Inside the delicate art of maintaining America’s aging nuclear weapons
-
Actor Bijou Phillips files for divorce from Danny Masterson after rape convictions
-
Four former Iowa Hawkeyes athletes plead guilty to reduced underage gambling charge