A disgruntled software developer has been charged with launching attacks against Rolling Stone and Radar Magazine.
The FBI said yesterday that Bruce Raisley, 47, is charged with the unauthorised access of protected computers, with the intention of causing denial-of-service and possible losses to the hacked websites.
Rolling Stone was the subject of multiple distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks directed at the web page that hosted an article with which Raisley took issue.
“There were some articles published that he did not like and he tried to have them retracted, but was rebuffed,” FBI Special Agent Mynra Williams told SCMagazineUS.com. "So he initiated the attacks. We do not know if anyone else was a part of this.”
A forensic review of Raisley's computer showed that it contained copies of programs used in conjunction with the DDoS attack. An investigation found that the DDoS program downloaded instructions from two locations controlled by Raisley, dosdragon.com and n9zle.com, and repeatedly targeted the victim websites.
“In this situation, this type of cyberbullying was used as a way to try to silence our media and deny them of their constitutional rights to the freedom of press,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Weysan Dun said in a statement. “It simply will not be tolerated. Technology works both ways and you will get caught.”
If convicted, Raisley faces up to ten years in prison and a US$250,000 fine.
See original article on scmagazineus.com