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This doesn't really make sense to me as a ransom target. If it was a business that is losing $$$ per minute of downtime then a DDoS for ransom would make more s

This doesn't really make sense to me as a ransom target. If it was a business that is losing $$$ per minute of downtime then a DDoS for ransom would make more sense, but a volunteer-run hobby site? If I were them I'd be happy to take a vacation and let the attacker spend all their money keeping the site down. This has "Nobody move or the bunny gets it" vibes. What are they (the attackers) thinking?

nonbirithm 3y ago
Some parts of Internet callout culture target persons who have posted fiction or other material the other party finds objectionable. AO3 deems itself an archive with no restrictions on the types of content users can upload so one can expect graphic violent/sexual content that wouldn't reach the mainstream. My guess is someone or a group of people found part of the writing AO3 users upload offensive and wanted to loudly protest. There has been some precedent in AO3 being targeted for "vulgar" content: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boycott_against_Xiao_Zhan_Incident?wprov=sfla1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boycott_against_Xiao_Zhan_Inci...
WorldMaker 3y ago
It does seem to me most probably a "culture jamming" thing. However, at face value a ransom attack has a sort of skewed logic to it. AO3 is a donation-funded non-profit and as such its books are somewhat open. The last few years the group (OTW, the Organization for Transformative Works) has been getting donations nearly 2x their operating costs and we know has been building something of a "rainy day fund"/"war chest" with it. (That's mostly to fight the more usual sorts of DDoS AO3 faces, given the content they host: DMCA takedowns and lawsuits.) The alleged ransom notice asks for a relatively small portion of their "rainy day funds" so there exists a possibility it is as dumb as it looks, and they just want what they think can be a quick and simple pay day. But "culture jamming" of some sort and some sort of disagreement with the types of content that AO3 hosts still feels to me like the more likely answer to why this is happening, and the ransom notice a tag-along or something.

nonbirithm 3y ago

Some parts of Internet callout culture target persons who have posted fiction or other material the other party finds objectionable. AO3 deems itself an archive with no restrictions on the types of content users can upload so one can expect graphic violent/sexual content that wouldn't reach the mainstream. My guess is someone or a group of people found part of the writing AO3 users upload offensive and wanted to loudly protest. There has been some precedent in AO3 being targeted for "vulgar" content: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boycott_against_Xiao_Zhan_Incident?wprov=sfla1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boycott_against_Xiao_Zhan_Inci...

WorldMaker 3y ago

It does seem to me most probably a "culture jamming" thing. However, at face value a ransom attack has a sort of skewed logic to it. AO3 is a donation-funded non-profit and as such its books are somewhat open. The last few years the group (OTW, the Organization for Transformative Works) has been getting donations nearly 2x their operating costs and we know has been building something of a "rainy day fund"/"war chest" with it. (That's mostly to fight the more usual sorts of DDoS AO3 faces, given the content they host: DMCA takedowns and lawsuits.) The alleged ransom notice asks for a relatively small portion of their "rainy day funds" so there exists a possibility it is as dumb as it looks, and they just want what they think can be a quick and simple pay day. But "culture jamming" of some sort and some sort of disagreement with the types of content that AO3 hosts still feels to me like the more likely answer to why this is happening, and the ransom notice a tag-along or something.