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Twitter, Netflix, Spotify, Reddit Down, Not Working? Authorities Investigate Massive DDoS Attack

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A massive hack database including over 272 million Google, Yahoo and Microsoft email passwords was offered by a Russian hacker for less than $1. Find out was impacted and what you should do if you were.
A massive hack database including over 272 million Google, Yahoo and Microsoft email passwords was offered by a Russian hacker for less than $1. Find out was impacted and what you should do if you were. Getty Images

Did a major DDoS attack break the Internet? According to internet traffic company Dyn, a cyber attack on Friday morning shut down servers and created issues with websites and social media networks, including Twitter, Reddit, Spotify, Netflix and Amazon.

"We have begun monitoring and mitigating a DDoS attack against our Dyn Managed (Domain Name System) infrastructure. Our Engineers are continuing to work on mitigating this issue," Dyn said on its website at 7:52 a.m. EDT.

The DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack reportedly affected users on the East Coast since 7:10 a.m. EDT. DDoS is a common method of cyber attack and involves intentionally overwhelming sites with an artificial spike in traffic from many sources. According to Reuters, the White House announced U.S. authorities are investigating whether the attack was a "criminal act."

At this point, Dyn announced services had been restored to normal since the attack. However, as of roughly noon EDT, a second wave of outage reports has begun to surface.

[UPDATE 2:25 p.m. EDT]: Dyn has updated its status page, confirming reports of ongoing issues. At 2:23 p.m. EDT, Dyn said, "Dyn Managed DNS advanced service monitoring is currently experiencing issues. Customers may notice incorrect probe alerts on their advanced DNS services. Our engineers continue to monitor and investigate the issue." Half an hour earlier, Dyn posted, "Our engineers continue to investigate and mitigate several attacks aimed against the Dyn Managed DNS infrastructure."

Gizmodo reports its readers have reported problems accessing the following sites:

  • ActBlue
  • Basecamp
  • Big cartel
  • Box
  • Business Insider
  • CNN
  • Cleveland.com
  • Esty
  • Github
  • Grubhub
  • Guardian.co.uk
  • HBO Now
  • Iheart.com (iHeartRadio)
  • Imgur
  • Intercom
  • Intercom.com
  • Okta
  • PayPal
  • People.com
  • Pinterest
  • Playstation Network
  • Recode
  • Reddit
  • Spotify
  • Squarespace Customer Sites
  • Starbucks rewards/gift cards
  • Storify.com
  • The Verge
  • Twillo
  • Twitter
  • Urbandictionary.com (lol)
  • Weebly
  • Wired.com
  • Wix Customer Sites
  • Yammer
  • Yelp
  • Zendesk.com
  • Zoho CRM
  • Credit Karma
  • Eventbrite
  • Netflix
  • NHL.com
  • Fox News
  • Disqus
  • Shopify
  • Soundcloud
  • Atom.io
  • Ancersty.com

Were you affected by the DDoS attack? Let us know in the comments below!

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