Hackers paralyze the internet in Andorra
During a multi-day twitch gaming tournament, unknown attackers repeatedly paralyzed the internet in Andorra. According to the online magazine Toms Hardware, the attacks were DDoS (Distributed Denial-of-Service) attacks against Andorra Telecom, the only Internet operator in the small country of 77,000 people between France and Spain. The attacks took place between January 19th and 24th. It was precisely during this period that a number of streamers from the Spanish and Latin American scenes hosted a Minecraft tournament called SquidCraft Games. The attacks should therefore harm some well-known streamers.
The tournament was modeled after the Netflix series Squid Game
On Twitter, Andorra Telecom confirmed suspicions that the DDoS attacks and the streaming tournament were related: “Various DDoS attacks, intended to affect the programming of some YouTubers, have damaged the Internet and 4G services of some Andorra Telecom customers damaged and disrupted,” according to Andorra Telecom.
Varis atacs de denegaci de servei (DDoS) que buscaven perjudicar la programaci dalguns youtubers, han affectat divendres ii dissabte el servei dinternet i de 4G dalguns clients dAndorra Telecom https://t.co/Aag03nA78K
– Andorra Telecom (@AndorraTelecom) January 23, 2022
According to Toms Hardware, at least eight streamers were eliminated from the competition as a result of the attack.
According to the e-sports magazine Inven Global, the Minecraft tournament peaked on the final day with over two million viewers. It was hosted by streamers Komanche and Auronplay. The tournament featured 150 participants competing for a prize pool of US$100,000. The content of the online competition was modeled on the South Korean drama series Squid Game.
Andorra is considered a tax haven
According to the Heise news website, the mini-state of Andorra is particularly attractive to social media stars and influencers because of its low taxes. The highest tax rate is just 10 percent.
You don’t need to be an experienced hacker to launch a DDoS attack these days. According to reports from The Record, the botnet required for such an attack was rented by the attackers.
Tim Adler / Editor finanzen.net
Image sources: BeeBright / Shutterstock.com