Within minutes of the online blackout, the social internet went into frenzy, with Twitter speculations of a DoS attack (Denial-of-Service) on BBC. Previously it was believed that online “hacktivist” group Anonymous had threatened to take down bbc.co.uk, and coincidentally within a few hours the Beeb web was put out of action – with the group claiming itself as the perpetrator.
The problems to service have since been vaguely addressed and an apology issued in an official blog by Steve Hermann, editor of the BBC News site which says “We haven’t yet had a full technical debrief, but it’s clear it was a major network problem. We’d like to apologise to everyone who couldn’t get on to the BBC News website during that time”.
BBC’s story would suggest it was an internal fault, but what actually happened might be something quite different. The Anonymous group is worldwide and is very good at what it does, having crippled and brought mayhem to numerous important websites since its inception in 2003. It’s quite possible..
You can share your comments and thoughts on this or any of our other blog articles at the official Gadget Helpline Facebook Page!