Accessibility links
Hackers Target Scientology Web Sites A group called "Anonymous" has been using "Distributed Denials of Service" to bring down the Web sites maintained by the religious group. Their problem isn't with the belief system, they say, but their insistence on controlling information.

Technology

Hackers Target Scientology Web Sites

Heard on All Things Considered

Hackers Target Scientology Web Sites

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/18460759/18460764" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Online hackers are using a simple but effective technique called "distributed denials of service" to bring down Web sites. The idea is to flood the target site with so much traffic, that it overwhelms the server.

A group of hackers called "anonymous" has been using this tactic against the Church of Scientology. Their problem isn't with the religion, they say, but the control of information.

Andrea Seabrook gets the story from Ryan Singel of Wired.com and Keith Laslop of the internet security company Prolexic.