WikiLeaks attack displays cloud security

An American cloud services provider found itself the target of web anarchists’ wrath when it kicked WikiLeaks off its servers. Hackers in pursuit of revenge planned to attack the provider with a distributed denial of service attack, the same they had used to temporarily shut down Visa.com and MasterCard.com when those companies forbade customers from donating to WikiLeaks.

However, the attack failed to have any effect on the cloud provider’s website and services. According to Kirk Thomas of PC World, the incident shows how cloud computing providers have some significant advantages when it comes to protecting data.

According to Thomas, the failed attack proves that cloud computing has what it takes to withstand hacking attempts. He noted a Twitter post by one of the hackers calling off the attack. "We cannot attack ... currently. The previous schedule was to do so, but we don't have enough forces," the hacker wrote. 

He was referring to users who have downloaded the Low Orbit Ion Cannon software, which overloads websites’ servers with requests. When several users run the software, websites can become overloaded and go offline. 

The cloud server had previously been used by WikiLeaks to defend itself from a DDoS attack. The provider removed the controversial website after being pressured by two U.S. Senators.