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Mumsnet's co-founder suffers swatting attack | Mumsnet's co-founder suffers swatting attack |
(35 minutes later) | |
Mumsnet has reset its users passwords after a series of attacks, one of which involved armed police being called out to the London home of the parenting site's co-founder. | |
Justine Roberts said she suffered a "swatting attack" last Tuesday - a type of harassment in which a perpetrator calls the emergency services out to their victim on a false pretence. | |
She added that another member of the site had been similarly targeted. | She added that another member of the site had been similarly targeted. |
Some accounts have been hijacked. | Some accounts have been hijacked. |
Ms Roberts also disclosed that someone had managed to hack into the site's administrative functions. | Ms Roberts also disclosed that someone had managed to hack into the site's administrative functions. |
Additionally, she revealed that there had been an attempt to force Mumsnet offline by swamping it with internet traffic, in what is known as a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. | Additionally, she revealed that there had been an attempt to force Mumsnet offline by swamping it with internet traffic, in what is known as a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. |
A spokeswoman from the Metropolitan Police was unable to comment on the swatting attack. | A spokeswoman from the Metropolitan Police was unable to comment on the swatting attack. |
However, a Twitter account linked to the incident, called DadSecurity, has been suspended. | |
Swat attacks | |
Ms Roberts - who is married to BBC Newsnight editor Ian Katz - wrote about the hoax call-outs on one of Mumsnet's forums. | |
"An armed response team turned up at my house last week in the middle of the night, after reports of a gunman prowling around," she wrote. | |
"A Mumsnet user who engaged with @DadSecurity on Twitter was warned to 'prepare to be swatted by the best' in a tweet that included a picture of a Swat team, after which police arrived at her house late at night following a report of gunshots. | |
"Needless to say, she and her young family were pretty shaken up. | |
"It's worth saying that we don't believe these addresses were gained directly from any Mumsnet hack, as we don't collect addresses." | |
The tweets by the DadSecurity account are now offline, but the BBC can confirm it repeatedly posted "RIP Mumsnet" and claimed to have stolen data from the site. |