Wikileaks has been under DDoS attack for the last five days

WikiLeaks is down. The site has been down for the last five days, during which it has been experiencing a massive Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack.

This isn't the first time this has happened. Back in May, Wikileaks was also taken down by a DDoS attack. That one lasted four days, however, meaning this one has already gone on for longer, according to the site's Twitter account.

The first tweet was sent out on August 3:

WikiLeaks.org is down for unknown reasons. We are investigating. wikileaks.org is still up.
#WikiLeaks donation page and FDNN portal down. You can still donate via supporter merchandise: http://wikileaks.spreadshirt.com/ http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/wikileaksbeattheblockade2
WikiLeaks has been under sustained large scale DDoS attacks since August 3. Help us purchase more bandwidth: http://shop.wikileaks.org/donate
Speculation on DDoS attack against WikiLeaks timing: 1. Olympics cover 2. Upcomng release. 3. Ongoing Syria, Stratfor releases
Wikileaks est actuellement sous le feu d’une attaque DDOS d’ampleur.
wlcentral.org and http://justice4assange.com are now down.
Update: http://wikileaks.org https://secure.fdn2.org/fdn2/nouser http://cabledrum.net/ still down. http://wlcentral.org/ http://justice4assange.com/ back online.
UPDATE: WikiLeaks battles ongoing DDoS attack
#WikiLeaks .onion mirror available: http://isax7s5yooqgelbr.onion/ Accessible only through Tor.

The attack is a very broad one. Most WikiLeaks mirrors have been brought offline as well, with some coming back today. Even sites simply related to WikiLeaks have been targeted.

These include the WikiLeaks-endorsed website Cabledrum, including its mirror of the WikiLeaks website, and French non-profit FDNN, which hosts a WikiLeaks' donation portal. The latter was attacked shortly after WikiLeaks linked to it as an alternative to donate while the WikiLeaks website is down. WL Central and Justice for Assange were also attacked for a short period of time.

Update at 9:30 AM PST - As pointed out in the comments, a group called AntiLeaks is claiming responsibility for the attack, and has issued the following statement:

You can call me DietPepsi. I am the leader of AntiLeaks. We are not doing this to call attention to ourselves. We are young adults, citizens of the United States of America and are deeply concerned about the recent developments with Julian Assange and his attempt at aslyum in Ecuador.

Assange is the head of a new breed of terrorist. We are doing this as a protest against his attempt to escape justice into Ecuador. This would be a catalyst for many more like him to rise up in his place. We will not stop and they will not stop us.

Apparently they're from the U.S., believe Julian Assange is a terrorist, and plan to keep attacking WikiLeaks for as long as possible. When I say "apparently" I mean I have no idea if they really are American (actually, I doubt they are).

Update at 10:00 AM PST - A mirror of Wikileaks' files can be found here: mirror.wikileaks-press.org.

See also:

• The Pirate Bay hit with massive DDoS attack
• The Pirate Bay returns, Anonymous hater takes credit for DDoS
• Demonoid hit by DDoS attack
• Demonoid busted by the police
• Anonymous hacks UK government sites over 'draconian surveillance'
• WikiLeaks founder: Facebook is "most appalling spying machine ever invented"