A cyber activist linked to Anonymous has been arrested after failing to mask the IP address of his computer while executing DDoS attacks against the Dutch Police and national prosecutor’s office.
“Awinee” allegedly carried out the digital offensive in retaliation for the recent detention of a 16-year-old Dutch boy accused of participating in pro-WikiLeaks attacks against a number of websites, including MasterCard and PayPal.
“From behind his computer, [Awinee] used hacker software to flood the website of the prosecutor’s office with as much digital traffic as possible,” Dutch security officials explained in an official statement.
“Investigations by the National Police Services Agency showed that the man [also] urged other Internet users to participate in the attack.”
In addition, prosecutors claim Awinee participated in an earlier DDoS strike against Moneybookers.com – which terminated its controversial relationship with WikiLeaks in August.
“[Of course], not hiding the IP address of [your] computer involved [in DDoS attacks] makes it easy for high-tech crime cops to identify where the attack [is] coming from. That’s [obviously] a pretty silly mistake to make if you’re going to attack the website of your country’s national prosecutor,” said Sophos security expert Graham Cluley.
“[So], even if you feel strongly that WikiLeaks is being persecuted or abandoned by online companies think very carefully before volunteering your PC and engaging in a DDoS attack. After all, it could be that the police are knocking on your door next.”
