The website of Greater Manchester Police in the UK was hit on Wednesday by two DDoS attacks, knocking it offline for two hours.
In an official statement, it said that its website, dubbed “the Force,” was first thought to be the victim of a simple glitch. Initial checks did not reveal anything untoward, and the system was quickly brought back online. However, a short time later, the website became unavailable again.
That time, a person claiming to be Lithuanian took responsibility for the issue via Twitter.
“[sic] I think these problems responsible was me :)” said the person, going by the handle “Prince” and using an avatar that appears to be a twisted version of the Fairly OddParents’ Timmy character. “Disclose out there that I was the one who knocked your site or I will not stop here.”
The police seemed unperturbed despite the threat.
“The DDoS attack against Greater Manchester Police highlights that the digital world has become an increasingly hostile environment,” Wieland Alge, VP and GM EMEA for Barracuda Networks, told Infosecurity. “The more organizations rely on digital mediums to connect with customers or in this case, the public, the more we see a shift in criminal activities towards digital methods.”
He added, “Unfortunately some organizations still think they have time to wait until they become a target or they believe they can weather the storm. Organizations need to be prepared. Whoever does not wear a raincoat and have an umbrella to hand these days will get wet.”