The popular politics and news website Talking Points Memo crashed tonight after experiencing an apparent distributed denial-of-service (DDOS) attack.
The shutdown came after the site published the mugshots of 14 alleged members of Anonymous, a loose-knit group of online hacker activists, who became well-known after launching online attacks on parties who opposed WikiLeaks, including MasterCard and PayPal.
As of 5 p.m. ET this evening, Talking Points Memo's website was unavailable.
In a tweet, Josh Marshall, editor and publisher of Talking Points Memo, confirmed the site had undergone a DDOS attack. "We have no direct proof of who is behind it," he wrote, however, "Given story we published today, a fairly logical inference can b drawn." He added they are working to restore access.
Although the site is still down, the potential cause for the attack -- the slideshow that reveals the faces of alleged Anonymous members -- is still accesible.
UPDATE: Talking Points Memo has now found a temporary home in the form of a Tumblr page and is steadily publishing content.
Talking Points Memo reporter Ryan J. Reilly, who received the alleged Anonymous mugshots via a FOIA request, addressed the attack in a Tumblr post:
Hackers launched a denial of service (DDOS) attack on TPM on Friday, knocking the site off-line. TPM had posted mugshots of individuals the FBI said are connected to the ‘hactivist’ group Anonymous earlier in the day.
While there was no direct evidence that tied Anonymous to the attack, the group has launched similar attacks against media websites and law enforcement agencies in the past.
Read the rest here.