U.S. Department of Justice

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Washington, D.C. 20535-0001

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NATIONAL PRESS OFFICE

Jan. 27, 2011 (202) 324-3691

www.fbi.gov

Search Warrants Executed in the United States as Part of Ongoing Cyber Investigation

FBI agents today executed more than 40 search warrants throughout the United States as part

of an ongoing investigation into recent coordinated cyber attacks against major companies

and organizations. Also today, the United Kingdom’s Metropolitan Police Service executed

additional search warrants and arrested five people for their alleged role in the attacks.

These distributed denial of service attacks (DDoS) are facilitated by software tools designed

to damage a computer network’s ability to function by flooding it with useless commands and

information, thus, denying service to legitimate users. A group calling itself “Anonymous” has

claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying they conducted them in protest of the companies’

and organizations’ actions. The attacks were facilitated by the software tools the group makes

available for free download on the Internet. The victims included major U.S. companies across

several industries.

The FBI also is reminding the public that facilitating or conducting a DDoS attack is illegal,

punishable by up to 10 years in prison, as well as exposing participants to significant civil

liability.

The FBI is working closely with its international law enforcement partners and others to mitigate

these threats. Authorities in the Netherlands, Germany and France have also taken their own

investigative and enforcement actions. The National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance

(NCFTA) also is providing assistance. The NCFTA is a public-private partnership whose

mission to identify, mitigate and neutralize cyber crime. The NCFTA has advised that software

from any untrustworthy source represents a potential threat and should be removed. Major

Internet security (anti-virus) software providers have instituted updates so they will detect the so-

called “Low Orbit Ion Canon” tools used in these attacks.

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