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4Chan.org Suffers DDOS Attack

4Chan.org, a series of image boards known for controversial content, has been shut down by a distributed denial of service attack.
I know what you’re thinking: What else is new? Hackers and others who can’t stand its messages have frequently targeted the image forums on 4Chan.org. But as a fan of 4Chan, it saddens me to see such a funny (though oftentimes off-color) collective go offline again – yet I know that this won’t be the last time it happens.

A DDOS attack occurs when one party targets a Web site and excessively floods the site’s server(s) to the point that regular and new visitors cannot access it.

The culprit, according to MikeAbundo.com, is Joe Biaso, a 16-year-old hacker. Known as “pacifico,” Biaso posted a video that shows him taunting 4Channers to try and telephone him and e-mail him.

“Have your fun, haven’t gotten much lately,” Biaso said in the video.

Suspecting Biaso as the one responsible for the attacks, 4Chan members have posted personal information about Biaso on the Internet, including his address.

A blog run by 4Chan creator Christopher Poole announced that the mega-image site was down because of the DDOS attack. The 4Chan status blog noted that the DDOS attack was ongoing.

“Remember kids: DDOS is cruise control for cool,” the most recent blog post read.

The DDOS attack was first reported on Monday, July 21. As of today 4Chan.org is still out of service.

4Chan has faced DDOS attacks in the past. In December 2007, the site suffered a DDOS attack on a smaller scale and returned online within a few hours.

4Chan has also made headlines through its members known as “Anonymous.” Early this year, members of Anonymous protested worldwide against the Church of Scientology, after learning that a video of Tom Cruise endorsing the church had been pulled from YouTube because of copyright issues.

Media outlet Fox News also reported on Anonymous’ activities, calling them “hackers on steroids.”

Established in October 2003, 4Chan is a collective of images posted by individuals from all over the world, sometimes establishing what are known as “memes.” Memes, also known as “Internet phenomena,” are sometimes catchy and outrageous phrases that are tagged to a photo (oftentimes edited via means like Photoshop).

Some memes include “Divide By Zero,” a calculation that would certainly bring about fantastic destruction and chaos. Another famous meme is the “O RLY” meme, which abbreviates the phrase “Oh, really?” and often tags a photo of a white owl.

Security Experts: Health Data Increasingly Being Sold on Black Market

Consumer health data are increasingly being sold on the black market as health care organizations become popular targets for hackers, NPR’s “all tech considered” reports.

Background

According to Symantec, a security firm, health care companies experienced a 72% increase in cyberattacks between 2013 and 2014. There have been more than 270 public disclosures of large health data breaches — which firms are required to disclose — over the past two years, according to “all tech considered.”

Black Market for Health Data

Meanwhile, health data have increasingly been appearing on the black market, with such information often being more costly to purchase than certain financial data. While stolen credit card numbers tend to be sold for a few dollars or even quarters, a set of Medicare ID numbers for 10 beneficiaries found online by Greg Virign, CEO of the security company RedJack, was being sold for 22 bitcoins, or about $4,700.

Stolen health information available for purchase cannot be found through simple Google searches, and websites offering such data tend to have names that end with .su and .so, as opposed to .com or .org. Some sites for criminal sales feature online rating systems, similar to Yelp, that let the buyer know if the seller is “legit.”

Insufficient Cybersecurity Measures

Meanwhile, security experts say that the cybersecurity measures put in place by health care organizations are not sufficient to adequately combat cyberattacks.

According to “all tech considered,” companies that are subject to HIPAA tend to interpret HIPAA rules loosely.

Jeanie Larson, an expert on health care security, noted that many health care organizations “do not encrypt data within … their own networks.”

In addition, Orion Hindawi — co-founder and chief technical officer at Tanium, a computer network monitoring company — said that some health care organizations are not aware of how large their networks are, including how many computers they have.

The National Healthcare and Public Health Information Sharing and Analysis Center, an industry group Larson is a part of, is pushing for hospitals to invest in cybersecurity to a similar degree as banks. She said, “The financial sector has done a lot with automating and creating fraud detection type technologies, and the health care industry’s just not there” (Shahani, “all tech considered,” NPR, 2/13).

4Chan.org Suffers DDOS Attack

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