Approximately three million smart toothbrushes were hijacked by hackers to launch a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack, knocking out a Swiss company for several hours and costing millions of euros in damages. The compromised toothbrushes, running Java, flooded the Swiss website with bogus traffic, causing widespread disruption. This incident highlights the expanding threat landscape as IoT devices become increasingly embedded in daily lives, emphasizing the need for robust digital hygiene and security measures to protect against potential cyber attacks.
The online sales event for Disney Lorcana's trading card game, organized by publisher Ravensburger, was disrupted by a DDoS attack on their website. Ravensburger apologized for the inconvenience and expressed their commitment to improving future launches. Technology company Queue-Fair confirmed the attack and estimated that nearly five million bot accounts were involved. The attack thwarted Ravensburger's plans to sell cards directly through their website, causing frustration among consumers. Despite positive reviews, the availability and pricing of Disney Lorcana cards remain challenging. Ravensburger plans to reallocate product quantities and improve future website launches.
OpenAI's ChatGPT and API services have been experiencing periodic outages due to a DDoS attack, which has been claimed by Anonymous Sudan. The attack coincided with the release of new features on OpenAI's platform, causing high demand and service instability. Users received various error messages and were unable to access ChatGPT during the outages. OpenAI's engineering team has been working to resolve the issues, and the incident highlights the challenges of maintaining large-scale AI services. Alternative AI tools like Google Bard and Claude.ai also experienced downtime during this period.
OpenAI has confirmed that a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack is responsible for the ongoing outages affecting its AI-powered chatbot, ChatGPT, and developer tools. Initially, OpenAI attributed the outages to high interest in the platform's new features, but later updated its incident report to state that the outages are due to an abnormal traffic pattern reflective of a DDoS attack. The company has not provided further details about the attack, and hacktivist group Anonymous Sudan has claimed responsibility. OpenAI competitor Anthropic also experienced issues with its chatbot, Claude, but it is unclear if the incidents are linked.
Microsoft has released the KB5031356 cumulative update for Windows 10 21H2 and 22H2, containing 25 fixes for various issues. The update brings back an improved search box experience on the taskbar, adds animations to icons on the news and interests taskbar button, and addresses issues with Microsoft Excel and the touch keyboard. Additionally, Microsoft has provided steps to mitigate a new DDoS attack technique called HTTP/2 Rapid Reset. Users can set limits for RST_STREAMS per minute using new registry keys.
The popular fan fiction website Archive of Our Own (AO3) is currently offline due to a DDoS attack claimed by hacktivist group Anonymous Sudan. The attack is part of a campaign targeting U.S. organizations, but cybersecurity experts believe the group may be linked to Russia. AO3, which is run by a U.S. non-profit, has warned against taking the attacker's claims at face value. The group has demanded a ransom of $30,000 in Bitcoin and threatened to continue the attack for weeks. It is uncertain when AO3 will be back online, but the attack does not involve a data breach.
Blizzard tech support recommends using a VPN to connect to Diablo 4 and Battle.net servers to address connectivity issues and potential DDoS attacks. Players are advised to install a secure and reliable VPN, choose a nearby country within the same region, and select a server with a lower player count for smoother gameplay. The recent DDoS attack caused login problems for Diablo 4 players, sparking calls for an offline mode. ExpressVPN is recommended as a top VPN pick for gaming, offering fast streaming speeds, global server coverage, strong encryption, and security. Additional tips for fixing connection issues include resetting network devices, optimizing internet connection, updating drivers and operating system, releasing and renewing IP, and closing other applications.
A DDoS attack on Blizzard's Battle.net over the weekend affected latency and connections to its games, with Diablo 4 receiving the most complaints. This has led to renewed calls for the game to have an offline mode. Blizzard confirmed the attack had ended without revealing who was behind it. Earlier this month, it was revealed that Blizzard is already working on two expansions for Diablo 4, which became the company's fastest-selling game in under 24 hours.
A DDoS attack rendered Diablo 4 unplayable for hours, prompting renewed calls for an offline mode. Blizzard's customer support Twitter account revealed the source of the problem and warned players. Fans expressed their frustration across social media and online forums. Diablo 4 has been rendered unplayable due to login issues multiple times since its launch earlier in June. The game's always-online requirement has been controversial, and some players believe an offline mode would solve these issues.
Diablo IV suffered an extended DDoS attack, causing players to experience high latency and disconnections. Blizzard confirmed the attack and worked to mitigate the issue, but some players reported being unable to play for nearly 12 hours. The situation highlights the risks of always-online games and the lack of an offline way to play Diablo IV as a completely single-player experience. After resolving one DDoS attack, Battle.net reported issues with another one later in the day.
Blizzard's Battle.net online service, including Diablo IV and other games, was hit by a DDoS attack on Sunday, causing latency and disconnections for players. The attack began in the early hours of Sunday morning and lasted for at least 10 to 12 hours. Blizzard eventually resolved the issue and renewed calls for an offline mode to be added to Diablo IV.
Diablo 4 has been hit by another DDoS attack, causing login issues and long wait times for players. The attack is believed to be coordinated, and the developers are working to mitigate the issue. DDoS attacks have become a growing threat to online gaming, with motivations ranging from competitiveness to financial gain. Game developers and platform operators must invest in robust security measures to counter this threat and maintain a secure gaming environment. In the meantime, players are advised to stay informed, be patient, and support the community until normal gameplay can be restored.
Microsoft has identified a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack executed by "Anonymous Sudan," a cybercriminal group with alleged Russian ties, as the cause of the sporadic service disruptions affecting tens of thousands of users of its flagship office suite products in early June. The attackers were focused on "disruption and publicity" and likely used rented cloud infrastructure and virtual private networks to bombard Microsoft servers from so-called botnets of zombie computers around the globe. Microsoft said there was no evidence any customer data was accessed or compromised. The company has taken several steps to guard against future DDoS attacks.
Microsoft has attributed the recent service outages of Azure, Outlook, and OneDrive to a DDoS attack by an unknown group called Storm-1359. The attack was likely carried out using rented cloud infrastructure, open proxies, and DDoS tools. While no customer data was accessed or compromised, the attacks temporarily impacted the availability of some services. Anonymous Sudan, a hacktivist group, has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but Microsoft has not explicitly linked Storm-1359 to Anonymous Sudan. KillNet, a Kremlin-affiliated collective, has also been linked to the attacks on healthcare entities hosted in Microsoft Azure.
Microsoft has confirmed that the June outage of Outlook was due to a Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack, which targeted OSI layer 7. The attack was carried out by a group called Anonymous Sudan, using botnets and tools from multiple cloud services and open proxy infrastructures. Microsoft has offered recommendations for guarding against such attacks in the future and believes the attackers were focused on disruption and publicity. It's not clear how large traffic bursts were in the attack.
