Hackers target Amazon.com site over WikiLeaks ouster |
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Hackers target Amazon.com site over WikiLeaks ouster
A group attacking the websites of companies that suspended WikiLeaks accounts is now turning its attention to Amazon.com. The group, called Anonymous, tweeted its intention to target Amazon a few hours ago as part of "Operation Payback." The group earlier sought to disrupt the websites of Visa, MasterCard, PayPal and others through Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks.
Update: Amazon appeared to be operating normally today, and another Twitter account linked to Anonymous indicated that the attack was called off because "we don't have enough forces." Amazon had no immediate comment.
At the same time, reports surfaced that Amazon's U.K. website is selling a Kindle e-book with excerpts of the WikiLeaks diplomatic cables. The book, which sells for £7.37, could create an awkward situation for Amazon, which last week removed WikiLeaks from its servers-for-rent, citing the fact that the website violated its terms of service.
Update: The Kindle book, titled "WikiLeaks documents expose US foreign policy conspiracies. All cables with tags from 1-5000," now has a label "[DOES NOT CONTAIN TEXT OF CABLES]" and a note that reads, "This book contains commentary and analysis regarding recent WikiLeaks disclosures, not the original material disclosed via the WikiLeaks website."
Update: The Kindle book disappeared from the Amazon U.K. site. Amazon spokesman Drew Herdener writes via e-mail: "We did not remove the title, and are verifying that it was removed from sale by the author."
Update: Now the book listing is back, but you can't buy it.
Update: And now you can buy it.
WikiLeaks, which started publishing a large batch of U.S. diplomatic cables on Nov. 28, had used Amazon's servers — via Amazon's cloud computing offering, Amazon Web Services — to host data after it came under cyberattack itself. U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman later said Amazon had stopped serving WikiLeaks after inquiries from his staff.
Amazon then issued a statement, saying it ousted WikiLeaks because, among other things, the anti-secrecy website "doesn’t own or otherwise control all the rights to this classified content." WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange slammed Amazon over its decision, questioning Amazon's commitment to free speech.
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