Web host to controversial websites under cyberattack

DreamHost, a web host tied to two controversial sites, is under digital attack. 

The company has been under a sustained distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack since roughly noon eastern time. DDoS attacks flood servers with traffic, forcing them to slow or crash.

Dreamhost provides the hosting services for the anti-President Trump site DisruptJ20.com, so named because it helped organize protests on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20. The firm was in court Thursday to fight a warrant that originally called for a list of the internet addresses for all 1.3 million visitors to DisruptJ20.com. 

{mosads}The judge in that case agreed with the U.S. attorney that a revised warrant, one only searching for users with evidence of violating the D.C. criminal code governing rioting, could continue. But the judge is also requiring safeguards to protect innocent users. 

DreamHost was also reportedly listed as the host for PunishedStormer, the new web address of white nationalist site The Daily Stormer, although the WHOIS Registry currently lists the site as being hosted by GoDaddy.

After The Daily Stormer posted derogatory comments about the victim of an alleged hit-and-run at the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va., the site had struggled to find any company willing to host it. 

At the time of writing, DreamHost says its services are suffering “degraded performance” but are largely back online.