Anonymous attacks PasteBin to test new DDoS attack tool

By Jeff Hughes Published August 9, 2011

Anonymous is building a bigger, more vicious weapon to replace its current DDoS tool. The new attack program, called #RefRef, is being developed in time for the Blackhat conference in Las Vegas and was recently tested on the currently unhappy Pastebin website.

The DDoS tool being used by Anonymous at the moment is called the Low Orbit Ion Cannon (LOIC), named after a weapon from Command & Conquer. LOIC has been effective in past campaigns, however, the tool doesn’t have a high enough detection protection for the infamous hackers and this weakness has led to the many global arrests in the last year.

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The new #RefRef tool is set to begin annoying corporations and governments in September. The new weapon is developed in JavaScript and exploits a server as long as the target supports JavaScript and SQL. Supposedly #RefRef uses the target’s own processing power against itself, taking the server down by creating resource exhaustion.

An Anonymous member interviewed by the Tech Herald said, “Imagine giving a large beast a simple carrot, [and then] watching the best choke itself to death.”

It’s interesting to note that #RefRef is platform independent and can be used on anything that is cozy with JavaScript. These devices can include mobile phones and even gaming systems. The developers are also trying to make it so the script can be hosted anywhere, making it possible to launch attacks from libraries or Internet cafés

Friday morning, the new tool was tested on the Hacker press release dump site PasteBin. The 17 second test created 42 minutes of downtime; the attack was confirmed by PasteBin’s twitter feed. Anonymous was recently nominated for a Pwnie award, the hacker Oscars which will be taking place at the Las Vegas Black Hat on August 3.

Former Digital Trends Contributor

I'm a SF Bay Area-based writer/ninja that loves anything geek, tech, comic, social media or gaming-related.

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