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WikiLeaks has constantly been under the scrutiny of the Governments. This time though it also seems to have been attacked. The DoS attack was launched on its website to stop it from publishing the Diplomatic Documents of the U.S Government.

WikiLeaks website DDoSed

WikiLeaks was hit with a denial-of-service attack as it prepared to publicize a trove of diplomatic documents.

The attack occurred Nov. 28, striking the controversial site before it posted a collection of more than 250,000 U.S. embassy cables online. The main WikiLeaks.org site appeared to bear the brunt of the attack, according to Paul Mutton of Netcraft, who added the site suffered from “patchy or slow availability for several hours.”

“Twitter user th3j35t3r claimed to be carrying out the denial of service attack against www.wikileaks.org, although in a tweet that has since been deleted, th3j35t3r stated that it was not a distributed attack,” Mutton blogged. “If WikiLeaks believed the attack to be distributed, it could suggest that other parties had also been carrying out separate attacks at the same time…th3j35t3r’s Twitter feed lists dozens of other sites that have also been taken down, mainly communicated through “TANGO DOWN” messages posted via the XerCeS Attack Platform.”

According to an analysis by Arbor Networks, the attack began around 10:05 a.m. EST Nov. 28. Shortly after the attack started, Wikileaks redirected DNS from its AS8473 Swedish hosting provider to use mirror sites hosted by a large cloud provider in Ireland (and later the US as well), Arbor found.

“Overall, at 2-4 Gbps the Wikileaks DDoS attack was modest in the relative scheme of recent attacks against large web sites,” blogged Craig Labovitz, chief scientist for Arbor Networks. “Though, TCP and application level attacks generally require far lower bps and pps rates to be effective. Engineering mailing list discussion also suggests the hosting provider and upstreams decided to blackhole all Wikileaks traffic rather than transit the DDoS.”

WikiLeaks was blasted during the past 24 hours by U.S. officials, with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stating the U.S. government “strongly condemns the illegal disclosure of classified information.”

“This Administration,” she said today, “is advancing a robust foreign policy that is focused on advancing America’s national interests and leading the world in solving the most complex challenges of our time…In every country and in every region of the world, we are working with partners to pursue these aims. So let’s be clear: this disclosure is not just an attack on America’s foreign policy interests. It is an attack on the international community – the alliances and partnerships, the conversations and negotiations that safeguard global security and advance economic prosperity.”

Among the documents is a cable linking the Chinese government to the Aurora attack that impacted Google, Adobe Systems and dozens of other corporations. The attack was first reported by Google in January, and speculation immediately pointed to China as the culprit.

While the controversy swirls, cablegate.wikileaks.org has so far escaped any significant downtime, Mutton blogged.

“This site has used 3 IP addresses since its launch, probably in anticipation of being attacked or deluged with legitimate traffic,” he wrote. “Two of these IP addresses are at Octopuce in France, which also hosts the single IP address now used by warlogs.wikileaks.org. Ironically, the third IP address being used to distribute secret US embassy cables is an Amazon EC2 instance hosted in – you guessed it – the US.”

Looks like after big G is in talks to buy Groupon after ‘rumored’ talks with Yahoo failed early this year. It also seems Google interest in Groupon will kindle others like Microsoft, Amazon, or eBay to have a look at it.

Groupon to fall in the dominant hands of Google ?

Is Google adding online deals to its arsenal of acquisitions this year? According to a site called VatorNews, Google is purchasing Groupon for $2.5 billion, though All Things D’s Kara Swisher says the deal will likely be upwards of $3 billion.

VatorNews had few other details about the purchase and Google and Groupon are not talking. Swisher was actually the first to report about a possible Google-Groupon tie-up back on November 19.

At the time, talks between Google and Groupon were still ongoing, and Swisher suggested that others might also be interested, including Microsoft, Amazon, or eBay. Yahoo was rumored to be interested in Groupon earlier this year, but a deal was not reached.

Swisher also noted that Google could face regulatory scrutiny. In July, the company purchased travel software firm ITA for $700 million, a deal that is under review by regulators and has been criticized by rival travel companies.

Groupon is a discount site that offers one major deal per day (buy $50 worth of clothes for $25, for example). Earlier this month, the company launched Grouponicus, featuring online deals tailored for holiday gifting.

Looks like  Justin Bieber Fans are in for a surprise today. Justin Bieber’s new song ‘Latin Girl’ has hit the internet.

The 16-year-old “Baby” sensation has unleashed a brand-new musical nugget “Latin Girl” upon the world. It’s not known whether the upbeat, dance-oriented tune will be on his upcoming sophomore album, but certainly it will be emanating from radios everywhere in the next few weeks.

Check out “Latin Girl” below. Has the Biebs crafted yet another musical mega-smash?

Last Christmas Nintendo Wii was the hottest selling gift. Everyone wanted it. It was cheap and loads of fun. It was everyone naturally choice when it came to gifting a gaming console. Sadly, things have changed a LOT.

A year after with Christmas being less then a month away, Nintendo Wii doesn’t seems to be enjoying the royalty it enjoyed last year. Well, its in a far worse condition then it would have ever expected.

Nintendo Wii was the No.1 gaming console in U.S in sales now it has fallen to No.3. But the company’s U.S. chief insists there’s still a significant market.

Nintendo Wii in Crisis

At Next-Gen Video Games in the Mid-Wilshire district, it has been two months since a customer bought a Nintendo Wii, the console that became a sensation for letting players swing a virtual tennis racket or steer a virtual car with a flick of the wrist.

Owner Jeff Bryson has three on hand for the holiday season, significantly fewer than last year, and he’s not even sure he’ll find buyers for those.

“The Wii has really slowed down,” Bryson said on a recent evening in his store. “It’s tough to sell.”

Just three years ago, Nintendo Co.’s video-game device was nearly impossible to find, as hard-core gamers clamored for it along with novices, including families with young children and grandparents drawn to its easy-to-use wand. From January 2007, just after it launched, until last May, the Wii was the top-selling game console nearly every month in the U.S.

But things have taken a decided turn. The Wii fell to No. 3 from No. 1 this year, with sales down 24% in the U.S. Sales of Microsoft Corp.’s rival Xbox 360 are up 34%, and Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 3 has risen 14%.

Games for the device are on a similar downward slope. Electronic Arts Inc. recently told investors that Wii game sales outside of Japan fell 34% in the recent quarter and are expected to be “down sharply” for the full year. Many who have bought a Wii appear to be letting it gather dust rather than buying new games.

“The success of the Wii has been bound in large part to people who enjoyed it as a fad and have now moved on,” said Marc Jackson, chief executive of video-game finance and consulting firm Seahorn Capital.

Success of Nintendo Wii came largely from an untapped market: infrequent game players. But infrequent game players by definition also don’t make for repeat customers when it comes to buying new Wii games. They’re also the ones whose attention has recently turned to online social games such as Farmville.

During the week of Thanksgiving, Nintendo sold 600,000 Wiis in the U.S., up from 550,000 in 2009.

“The industry’s interest in the Wii has been like a roller coaster,” said Joe Minton, president of DDM, an agency that helps sell the game studios’ ideas to game publishers. “First they ignored it, then there were a few successes and they all tried to get on it. Then a lot of games failed and so there has been a pullback.”

Nor are game developers themselves overly eager to focus on the Wii.

“When you have an original idea, you want the best platform with the most cutting-edge technology to showcase it,” said Jason Alejandre, president of Tarzana-based Game Mechanic Studios. “That’s one reason most developers prefer not to work on the Wii.”

In early 2006, with the GameCube struggling and the Wii raising eyebrows for its funny name and lack of power, some in the industry said Nintendo should abandon the console business altogether. They were soon eating their words.

“Nintendo is contrarian by nature and they always seem to have a longer-term plan than their competitors,” Jackson said. “I’m sure they’re figuring out what to do next and it’s going to surprise everyone.”

‘It was the first thing I’ve ever done that was this physically demanding on top of an emotionally demanding part,’ she tells MTV News.

Natalie Portman on 'Black Swan'

For as beautiful and ethereal as the world of ballet appears to be, whether via live performance or in movies, Darren Aronofsky and Natalie Portman have gone to great lengths to shatter that pristine exterior in their new film, “Black Swan,” which arrives in theaters Friday. When MTV News caught up with Portman, we asked her what she went through in order to get into her character’s dark and disturbing world.

“It was really extreme,” Portman said of her physical commitment to the role. “And I definitely felt both physical and mental aftershocks from the experience, because it was the first thing I’ve ever done that was this physically demanding on top of an emotionally demanding part,” she said. “And it’s great. I mean, the kind of discipline that it demands also puts you in that space for the acting part. But yeah, it affects you in ways. I’ll probably figure out how it affected me in, like, five years. I’ll look back and go, ‘Oh, that’s why I did that and that and that.’ ”

Portman also said that, although she and Aronofsky first discussed the project nearly a decade ago, she needed more age and experience to tap into certain aspects of her character.

“For me, it’s really about someone going from a position, an artistry where you’re trying to please other people, to a position where you’re finding pleasure yourself,” she said. “And Vincent [Cassel]‘s character, though it seems that he’s sort of puppeteering this character, he is really guiding her towards becoming an artist and is really teaching her how to find her own pleasure and make a true expression of herself, that it’s about her.”

The 29-year-old went on to say that she related to her character finally realizing that it’s not her job to make others happy. “It’s about breaking out of a system where you’re easily replaceable by the next girl who looks like you. And I feel like my 20s were about that, and probably into my future, I’m sure it’ll continue being that way,” Portman said. “But the older you get, the less you care about what other people think and the more you just want to be your true self and express your true self.”

Source: MTV.com

Nobody seems to be happy with the Kardashian Debit Card. It has been finally been cancelled after a lot of criticism.

Though the U.S. reality show “Keeping up with the Kardashians” may be a hit, looks like the the public is not ready to accept a Debit Card with their favorite TV Show’s title.

A Minnesota lender on Monday halted sales of a prepaid debit card featuring an image of the Kardashian sisters, after Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said the card carried “outrageous” fees that unfairly targeted financially unsophisticated young adults.

Kardashians Debit Card not welcomed

University National Bank said the 250 consumers who bought the MasterCard-branded “Kardashian Kard” since its November 9 launch may continue using it for 30 days, and thereafter would receive refunds of balances and up-front fees.

The St. Paul-based company said it was reviewing its agreement with the Kardashians’ company Dash Dolls LLC to ensure that card holders get refunds, and would work to ensure that card holders “experience as little inconvenience as possible.”

Blumenthal had complained on Friday that the debit card burdened fans of Kim, Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian’s “lives of luxury and extravagance” with fees that could reach $100 a year, plus fees for ATM withdrawals, cancellations and talking with a phone operator.

According to a letter from the Kardashians’ lawyer released by Blumenthal’s office, the sisters on Monday pulled out of the agreement allowing the bank to use their likenesses on the card.

“The Kardashians have worked extremely long and hard to create a positive public persona that appeals to everyone, particularly young adults,” wrote the lawyer, Dennis Roach.

“Unfortunately, the negative spotlight turned on the Kardashians as a result of the Attorney General’s comments and actions threatens everything for which they have worked.”

A spokesman for Purchase, New York-based MasterCard Inc referred a request for comment to University National.

Prepaid debit cards associated with celebrities “are becoming more and more popular,” said Pamela Banks, senior policy counsel for Consumers Union in Washington, D.C.

“Tying a card to someone who is famous or wealthy can get more consumers to say, ‘I want to be more like the rich and famous,”‘ she continued. “But prepaid debit cards do not have the same protections that traditional debit cards have, and often have hidden fees that eat away at their value.”

Connecticut voters this month elected Blumenthal, a Democrat, to the U.S. Senate, beginning in January.

Anne Hathaway and James Franco have been announced as the co-hosts of the 83rd annual Academy Awards, which takes place on Feb 27th.

Anne Hathaway to be Oscar Co-host

They both will continue the double-act Oscar hosting technique that Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin tried last year.

Oscars co-producer Don Mischer said, “They both have a great sense of humor and a great sense of comedy.” Not to mention a great sense of being young: She’s 28 and he’s 32.

James Franco to be Oscar Co-host

2009 host Hugh Jackman scooped Hathaway out of the front row to sing the “Frost/Nixon” portion of a tribute to the 2008 best picture nominees. Hathaway was up for best actress at that ceremony for “Rachel Getting Married.”

Franco, who played Sean Penn’s boyfriend in “Milk,” since made a splash as a drug dealer in the comedy “Pineapple Express” and may get a nomination this year as the trapped hiker who cut his own arm off in “127 Hours.”

The last woman without a standup comedy background to co-host the Academy Awards was Goldie Hawn, alongside Chevy Chase and Paul Hogan in 1987.