WikiLeaks' main website became inaccessible on Friday via its WikiLeaks.org domain after EveryDNS.net, a subsidiary of Dynamic Network Services, terminated its domain name service.
EveryDNS.net terminated the WikiLeaks.org domain due to repeated Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attacks. These attacks threatened the stability of EveryDNS.net's infrastructure, which supports nearly 500,000 other websites. This information was stated on EveryDNS.net’s website.
EveryDNS.net notified WikiLeaks via email, Twitter, and the chat function on the WikiLeaks.org website that its domain name service would be terminated within 24 hours. This period ended on Dec. 2 at 10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time in the U.S. EveryDNS.net remarked, "Any downtime of the Wikileaks.org website has resulted from its failure to use another hosted DNS service provider."
In response, WikiLeaks tweeted, "WikiLeaks.org domain killed by U.S. EveryDNS.net after claimed mass attacks," urging supporters to continue donations to keep WikiLeaks strong.
The WikiLeaks tweet conflicted with an earlier post, which claimed that DDOS attacks against its servers reached 10 Gigabits per second on Nov. 30. Amazon Web Services also confirmed these attacks, noting in a blog post that, "There were indeed large-scale DDOS attacks, but they were successfully defended against."
This domain service termination occurred just days after Amazon Web Services ceased hosting WikiLeaks for violating user rules. These rules mandate that websites must use their own content and not host data that could harm others. Additionally, the U.S. Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, led by Senator Joe Lieberman, requested Amazon to stop hosting WikiLeaks.
WikiLeaks has faced significant criticism for publishing classified U.S. documents, including videos and documents from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, as well as sensitive cables between U.S. embassies and the U.S. State Department. Despite this, WikiLeaks continues to post these cables.
Dynamic Network Services, based in Manchester, New Hampshire, stated that all its systems were functioning normally through its EveryDNS.net subsidiary.
