Search Here

A group that launched a cyberattack against IS downed BBC's servers last week in what the group termed a 'test' of strength.

BBC's servers were down for several hours following Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attack, which was initially called a technical problem by the broadcaster. In a tweet to BBC's technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones, New World Hacking claimed that the attack was a test, reports Mashable.

The group's spokesperson said it was not aware its attack made the headlines. The attack was described as a 600 GBPS DDOS and the actual target was ISIS.

According to BBC, which posted the tweets from the group, the attack was carried out using two nodes and the intention was not to take down the servers for several hours.

"We are based in the US, but we strive to take down Isis [IS] affiliated websites, also Isis members. We realize sometimes what we do is not always the right choice, but without cyber hackers... who is there to fight off online terrorists?... The reason we really targeted [the] BBC is because we wanted to see our actual server power," the group said in a series of tweets.

The group was involved efforts post Paris attacks to identify the attackers online and to make public social media accounts of ISIS recruiters.