PayPal’s reported cost from Anonymous’s December 2010 distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks was £3.5 million, according to ITPro’s 2012 court report. The figure combined investment in defensive hardware and software with related economic harm; it was not reported as a standalone bill for lost sales.
Why did Anonymous attack PayPal?
The attacks followed PayPal’s suspension of accounts used to process donations for WikiLeaks. The U.S. Department of Justice says the dispute arose after WikiLeaks released classified U.S. State Department cables in late November 2010. Anonymous coordinated attacks in retaliation, in an operation known as “Operation Avenge Assange,” within the broader Operation Payback campaign. The DOJ’s 2013 account describes the connection between PayPal’s decision and the attacks.
What did the £3.5 million figure include?
ITPro reported in November 2012 that PayPal’s defensive hardware and software investment, together with the incident’s economic impact, amounted to £3.5 million. That court-reported total is the figure behind the headline; the coverage does not break it into separate amounts for mitigation spending and other losses.
PayPal was not the only organization targeted during the campaign. The Independent’s 2013 sentencing report gave these other reported estimates:
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| Organization | Reported cost |
|---|---|
| Ministry of Sound | £9,000, estimated site-attack cost |
| IFPI | More than £20,000 |
| BPI | More than £4,000 |
| MasterCard and Visa | Not disclosed in the sentencing report |
These figures were reported in The Independent’s account of the UK sentencing; they are not a complete accounting of the campaign’s financial effects.
How did the DDoS attacks work?
A distributed denial-of-service attack uses traffic from multiple sources to overwhelm a target computer or network, making its services difficult or impossible for legitimate users to reach. The DOJ described the PayPal attacks as flooding systems with useless commands and information, impairing their ability to function. The aim was disruption rather than taking information from PayPal’s systems.
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The DOJ’s earlier announcement said the San Jose indictment alleged use of an open-source program made freely available online. That announcement concerned allegations at the arrest stage, when defendants were presumed innocent; it should not be confused with the later guilty pleas. The 2011 DOJ announcement sets out that distinction and describes the alleged method.
Who was sentenced in the UK?
The UK case resulted in convictions and guilty pleas for conspiracy to impair the operation of computers. The Independent reported these outcomes:
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- Christopher Weatherhead, 22: convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison.
- Ashley Rhodes, 28: sentenced to seven months after admitting the charge.
- Peter Gibson, 24: received a six-month sentence, suspended for two years, plus community service.
The sentencing report said the campaign also targeted MasterCard, Visa, BPI, IFPI and Ministry of Sound websites. Judge Peter Testar characterized the activity as protest, while rejecting the idea that disagreement gave people a right to disrupt others’ services.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What happened in the separate U.S. case?
In December 2013, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California announced that 13 defendants had pleaded guilty in federal court in San Jose in connection with the December 2010 PayPal attack. Their plea agreements described the attacks as retaliation for PayPal ending WikiLeaks donation processing. The U.S. figure of 13 refers to that federal prosecution; it is separate from the UK convictions and sentences.
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