MasterCard's main website was unavailable for some time on Tuesday as it appeared hackers were again targeting the company for its refusal to process donations for the whistle-blowing site WikiLeaks. MasterCard’s main website was unavailable for some time on Tuesday as it appeared hackers were again targeting the company for its refusal to process donations for the whistle-blowing site WikiLeaks.MasterCard along with companies such as Visa, PayPal and the Swiss Bank PostFinance stopped processing payments for WikiLeaks shortly after the site began releasing portions of 250,000 secret U.S. diplomatic cables in November 2010.The hacking collective known as Anonymous spearheaded a drive to conduct distributed denial-of-service (DDOS) attacks against those sites. A DDOS attack involves sending large quantities of meaningless traffic to the website, which can knock it offline.WikiLeaks wrote on Twitter on Tuesday that “hacktivists” had taken down MasterCard “over the continuing WikiLeaks fiscal embargo.” In another Twitter posting, it said the “unlawful banking blockade” was in its sixth month and named Visa, MasterCard, PayPal, Bank of America and Western Union. MasterCard spokespeople could not be immediately reached.The MasterCard attacks come as Lulz Security said on Saturday it would stop its hacking campaign. During 50 days of activity, the group exploited weaknesses in a host of corporate and government websites, including the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, the U.S. Senate, the U.K.’s Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), SonyPictures.com, Fox.com, and most recently the Arizona Department of Public Safety computer network. A 19-year-old man, Ryan Cleary, was arrested on June 20 at his home in Wickford, Essex, for allegedly taking part in the attacks against SOCA.He is charged with five computer-related offenses and stands accused of distributing tools to build a botnet used to attack SOCA as well as websites of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and the British Phonographic Industry.In January, U.K. police arrested three teenagers for taking part in DDOS attacks as part of Anonymous. Earlier this month, authorities in Spain said they’d conducted their first police action against Anonymous, arresting three people whom they accuse of directing attack against Sony PlayStation Store, the bank BBVA, the Italian utility company ENEL and websites belonging to the governments of Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Iran, Chile, Colombia and New Zealand.Send news tips and comments to jeremy_kirk@idg.com Related content news analysis DHS unveils one common platform for reporting cyber incidents Ahead of CISA cyber incident reporting regulations, DHS issued a report on harmonizing 52 cyber incident reporting requirements, presenting a model common reporting platform that could encompass them all. By Cynthia Brumfield Sep 25, 2023 10 mins Regulation Regulation Regulation news Chinese state actors behind espionage attacks on Southeast Asian government The distinct groups of activities formed three different clusters, each attributed to a specific APT group. By Shweta Sharma Sep 25, 2023 4 mins Advanced Persistent Threats Cyberattacks feature How to pick the best endpoint detection and response solution EDR software has emerged as one of the preeminent tools in the CISO’s arsenal. Here’s what to look for and what to avoid when choosing EDR software. By Linda Rosencrance Sep 25, 2023 10 mins Intrusion Detection Software Security Monitoring Software Data and Information Security feature Top cybersecurity M&A deals for 2023 Fears of recession, rising interest rates, mass tech layoffs, and conservative spending trends are likely to make dealmakers cautious, but an ever-increasing need to defend against bigger and faster attacks will likely keep M&A activity steady in By CSO Staff Sep 22, 2023 24 mins Mergers and Acquisitions Data and Information Security IT Leadership 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