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Friday, August 07, 2009

Web attack aimed at one blogger

A "massively co-ordinated" attack on websites including Google, Facebook and Twitter was directed at one individual, it has been confirmed.

Facebook told BBC News that the strike was aimed at a pro-Georgian blogger known as Cyxymu.

The attack caused a blackout of Twitter for around two hours, while Facebook said its service had been degraded.

Google said it had defended its sites and was now working with the other companies to investigate the attack.

"The attack appears to be directed at an individual who has a presence on a number of sites, rather than the sites themselves," a Facebook spokesman told BBC News.

"Specifically, the person is an activist blogger and a botnet was directed to request his pages at such a rate that it impacted service for other users."

Botnets are networks of computers under the control of hackers.

It is still not known who perpetrated the attack or why they may have targeted Cyxymu and his accounts.

However, in an interview with the UK's Guardian newspaper, the blogger blamed Russia.

The blogger has previously criticised Russia over its conduct in the war over the disputed South Ossetia region, which began one year ago.

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