In a period of just six hours, more than 150 thousand requests were sent to the newspaper’s server, almost seven requests per second. The attack was carried out via a computer program, of course, and not by individual users. The attack continued, even after being successfully blocked. Attempts were made to send another thirty thousand requests, without success. This event overloaded the server’s resources, leading to an interruption of the services for an extended period.
At the time of this note, the portal still has some problems, but is operational again. No content was lost during the attack. The problems that remain are of an operational nature only. This type of practice is common in cyber attacks, with other left-wing portals, such as Ponte Jornalismo, reporting attacks of a similar nature.
This new challenge comes amid a wave of attacks reported against other entities, such as the newspaper A Nova Democracia, the aforementioned Ponte Jornalismo, the union of postal workers in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. A Nova Democracia reports that its newsroom was invaded and the infrastructure vandalised. Diário Causa Operária itself had already been attacked, in a far-right operation that in less than an hour erased more than 4,000 articles and left the portal badly damaged.
This escalation is undoubtedly part of a fascist offensive encouraged, if not financed, by pro-Bolsonaro and other far-right organisations, and it needs to be contained. It is necessary to organize a broad front in defence of the workers’ popular and democratic organisations and, as in this case, of their press.
Issued by: Secretariat of Agitation and Propaganda of the National Central Committee of the Workers Cause Party
São Paulo, August 25, 2020
DCO https://www.causaoperaria.org.br
PCO https://pco.org.br/
COTV www.cotv.com.br
LOJA do PCO www.lojadopco.com
