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Anonymous takes credit for massive Go Daddy outage

The Web hosting service Go Daddy is down – and 'hacktivist' group Anonymous is taking responsibility. 

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Reuters
Go Daddy is down, and both Web hosting and email services have been disrupted.
  • By Matthew Shaer

For the time being, the Web hosting giant Go Daddy isn't going anywhere. (Sorry – we couldn't resist.) According to reps for the company, a widespread outage has affected e-mail, a range of customers websites, and even the Go Daddy homepage, which went dark earlier this afternoon and remained offline as of 4 p.m. Not exactly good news for an organization that prides itself on safe and secure hosting services. 

"We understand your frustration," reads a message on the company support forum. "We want you to know that our team is investigating the source of the issue and is working to resolve it as quickly as possible." 

Later, the Go Daddy team took to Twitter to plead for a little more time.

"So many messages, can't get to you all... Sorry to hear all your frustration. We're working feverishly to resolve as soon as possible," read one tweet. 

So who's behind the Go Daddy blackout? Well, Go Daddy isn't saying. But as the New York Times points out, a Twitter user apparently affiliated with Anonymous has taken credit for the attack.

"I'm taking godaddy down bacause well i'd like to test how the cyber security is safe and for more reasons that i can not talk now," writes the user known as Anonymous Own3r. 

Anonymous, of course, is a protean organization with an unknown number of members, and it remains unclear whether this was an officially sanctioned attack or a freelance job. Still, it may make sense that Anonymous would target Go Daddy: Back in 2011, Go Daddy was sluggish to denounce SOPA and PIPA, a pair of controversial bills especially despised by the "hacktivist" community. 

Affected by the Go Daddy outage? Drop us a line in the comments section. And to receive regular updates on how technology intersects daily life, follow us on Twitter @venturenaut.

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