Hackers partially paralysed Mastercard's website, in an attack thought to be in revenge for the credit card company's decision to stop allowing web users to make donations to WikiLeaks. Hackers have partially frozen Mastercard’s website in an attack that has been claimed as revenge for the credit card company’s decision to stop allowing web users to make donations to WikiLeaks.An online group called Anoymous used micro-blogging service Twitter to claim responsibility for the distributed denial of service (DDOS) attach.“We are glad to tell you that http://www.mastercard.com/ is down and it’s confirmed! #ddos #wikileaks Operation:Payback(is a bitch!) #payback” read the tweet from Anon_Operation.MasterCard revealed earlier this week that it would not process any more donations to the website, which recently published more than 250,000 sensitive cables sent among members of the US State Department, as it’s concerned that the website is taking part in illegal activity. “MasterCard rules prohibit customers from directly or indirectly engaging in or facilitating any action that is illegal,” said Chris Monteiro from the credit card company.The Anoymous group is thought to be linked to online forum 4Chan, which launched a DDOS attack on ACS:Law, a legal firm that has been chasing illegal downloaders, in September. Mastercard isn’t the only company freezing payments to WikiLeaks. Swiss bank PostFinance, which has already been attacked by the group, and PayPal are among other copmpanies boycotting WikiLeaks donations. Anoymous has threatened to target PayPal next.Datacell, the firm that enables WikiLeaks to accept donations via Mastercard, has vowed to take legal action to ensure payments can be accepted once again, as it believes freezing payments could subsequently harm Datacell’s business.WikiLeaks chief spokesman Julian Assange was arrested in the UK yesterday. He is wanted in Sweden on one count of unlawful coercion, two counts of sexual molestation and one count of rape.Broadband speed testPC security adviceInternet & broadband newsSee also: WikiLeaks: China pressured Google on internet censorship Related content news analysis Companies are already feeling the pressure from upcoming US SEC cyber rules New Securities and Exchange Commission cyber incident reporting rules don't kick in until December, but experts say they highlight the need for greater collaboration between CISOs and the C-suite By Cynthia Brumfield Sep 28, 2023 6 mins Regulation Data Breach Financial Services Industry news UK data regulator warns that data breaches put abuse victims’ lives at risk The UK Information Commissioner’s Office has reprimanded seven organizations in the past 14 months for data breaches affecting victims of domestic abuse. By Michael Hill Sep 28, 2023 3 mins Electronic Health Records Data Breach Government news EchoMark releases watermarking solution to secure private communications, detect insider threats Enterprise-grade software embeds AI-driven, forensic watermarking in emails and documents to pinpoint potential insider risks By Michael Hill Sep 28, 2023 4 mins Communications Security Threat and Vulnerability Management Security Software news SpecterOps to use in-house approximation to test for global attack variations The new offering uses atomic tests and in-house approximation in purple team assessment to test all known techniques of an attack. By Shweta Sharma Sep 28, 2023 3 mins Penetration Testing Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe