You’re probably aware that the US Internet has been massively disrupted today, with a series of DDoS attacks aimed at Dyn, Inc., one of the largest DNS providers in the country.

DNS is the system that connects domain names with IP addresses; when you type a domain name into your browser’s address line, it uses DNS to associate that name with its unique IP address, enabling you to connect to the site without knowing a string of obscure numbers.

By attacking one of the nation’s largest DNS providers, the hackers have effectively targeted a huge number of websites and made them inaccessible. And this attack reportedly uses notoriously insecure “Internet of Things” devices (like web-enabled refrigerators and baby monitors, for example) in a huge botnet, making this DDoS unprecedentedly gigantic.

I’ve been critical of IoT devices for a long time because they were obviously a disaster waiting to happen, with very little attention paid to the security of devices that were connected to the web. Now the disaster is happening.

And now, Wikileaks is saying this attack is being mounted by their supporters.

Mr. Assange is still alive and WikiLeaks is still publishing. We ask supporters to stop taking down the US internet. You proved your point. pic.twitter.com/XVch196xyL

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) October 21, 2016