Low Orbit Ion Cannon
Low Orbit Ion Cannon (LOIC) is an open source network stress testing and denial-of-service attack application, written in C#. LOIC was initially developed by Praetox Technologies, but was later released into the public domain,[1] and now is hosted on several open source platforms.[2][3]
The software has inspired the creation of an independent JavaScript version called JS LOIC, as well as LOIC-derived web version called Low Orbit Web Cannon. These enable a DoS from a web browser.[4]
Contents
Use
LOIC performs a denial-of-service (DoS) attack (or when used by multiple individuals, a DDoS attack) on a target site by flooding the server with TCP or UDP packets with the intention of disrupting the service of a particular host. People have used LOIC to join voluntary botnets.[5]Countermeasures
Security experts quoted by the BBC indicated that well-written firewall rules can filter out most traffic from DDoS attacks by LOIC, thus preventing the attacks from being fully effective.[6] Specifically, it has been claimed that filtering out all UDP and ICMP traffic helps to address LOIC attacks in an efficient way.[7] However, the firewall rules need to be entered upstream, e.g. at the ISP of the site operator, where the backbone is converted to the server's broadband line. If the packets still have to travel through the server's limited line, then filtering the packets at the firewall level is not a valid deterrence, since the packets still have to travel to the firewall before the firewall can do anything to the packets, and the line between the server's ISP and the server's firewall will be clogged.[7]LOIC attacks are easily identified in system logs, and the attack can be tracked down to the IP addresses used at the attack.[8]
Notable uses
Project Chanology and Operation Payback
LOIC was used by Anonymous (group) during Project Chanology to attack websites from the Church of Scientology,[9] once more to (successfully) attack the Recording Industry Association of America's website in October 2010,[10] and again during Operation Payback in December 2010 to attack the websites of companies and organizations that opposed WikiLeaks.[11][12]Operation Megaupload
Main articles: Operation Megaupload and Megaupload
In retaliation for the shut down of the file sharing service Megaupload
and the arrest of four workers, Anonymous DDoSed the websites of UMG
(the company responsible for the lawsuit against Megaupload), the United
States Department of Justice, the United States Copyright Office, the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, the MPAA, Warner Brothers Music and the
RIAA, as well as the HADOPI, all on the afternoon of January 19, 2012,
through LOIC.Origin of name
The LOIC application is named after the Ion cannon, a fictional weapon from the Command & Conquer video game franchise.[13]Other implementations
Another implementation of LOIC named LOIC++ has been made to run natively on Linux.[citation needed] There is also an OS independent implementation written in Java named Java LOIC.References
- Jump up ^ "Praetox Techlologies". Archived from the original on Oct 8, 2010.
- Jump up ^ LOIC | Free Security & Utilities software downloads at SourceForge.net
- Jump up ^ NewEraCracker/LOIC · GitHub
- Jump up ^ Warren, Christina (December 9, 2010). "How Operation Payback Executes Its Attacks". Mashable.
- Jump up ^ "Pro-Wikileaks activists abandon Amazon cyber attack". BBC News. 9 December 2010.
- Jump up ^ "Anonymous Wikileaks supporters explain web attacks". BBC. 10 December 2010. Retrieved 11 December 2010.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "The attacks on GRC.COM". GRC.com. 06-02-2001. Retrieved 25-01-2012.
- Jump up ^ Nardi, Tom (March 03, 2012). "Low Orbit Ion Cannon: Exposed". The Powerbase. Retrieved March 04, 2012.
- Jump up ^ Anonymous 101 Part Deux: Morals Triumph Over Lulz
- Jump up ^ Hachman, Mark (October 29, 2010). "'Anonymous' DDoS Attack Takes Down RIAA Site". PC Magazine.
- Jump up ^ Moses, Asher (December 9, 2010). "The Aussie who blitzed Visa, MasterCard and PayPal with the Low Orbit Ion Cannon". The Age (Melbourne).
- Jump up ^ "Anonymous Wikileaks supporters mull change in tactics". BBC News. December 10, 2010.
- Jump up ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20120927082809/http://www.airdemon.net/loic.html
