Cyber Incident Victim: Broadcasthe.net
Date:
Jan 2014
Location:
United States of America
Summary
Three private BitTorrent trackers, including Broadcasthe.net, experienced extended downtime due to sustained distributed denial-of-service attacks targeting their infrastructure. The attacks overwhelmed the sites for multiple days, prompting one tracker to implement IP null-routing to mitigate bandwidth costs. No individual or group claimed responsibility for the disruptions, and staff reported receiving no prior threats. The incident mirrored previous attacks against the same platforms by an actor known as "Zeiko," whose motivations historically stemmed from personal grievances rather than ideological stances. Service impacts included prolonged inaccessibility for tens of thousands of users across the affected platforms.
| CIA Posture | Motives | Tactics, Techniques & Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| Available to members | 2 motives | 1 technique |
| Threat Actor | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 1 actor | Available to members | Available to members |
Description
Between January 4-6, 2014, three prominent private BitTorrent trackers—What.cd (music), Broadcasthe.net (BTN, TV), and PassthePopcorn.me (PTP, movies)—experienced sustained distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks that rendered their services unavailable for multiple days. The attacks overwhelmed the sites with unwanted traffic, exceeding typical short-duration DDoS incidents commonly faced by large trackers. All three platforms operated invite-only membership systems but collectively served tens of thousands of active users, who were unable to access the sites during the outage. What.cd implemented a null-routing strategy for its IP address to mitigate bandwidth consumption costs, a decision communicated by staff member "Narcolepsy" to TorrentFreak. No individual or group claimed responsibility for the attacks during the incident window, and staff across all three trackers reported no prior threats or communication from attackers.
The prolonged downtime disrupted tracker operations and user communities, with no public restoration timeline provided during the initial attack period. Historical context indicated similarities to November 2012 attacks attributed to "Zeiko," who targeted the same trackers after being denied an invite and later expanded attacks to public torrent sites like The Pirate Bay. While the 2014 attacks suggested a deliberate focus on these specific private trackers, the motivation remained unconfirmed—potential factors included anti-piracy sentiment, operational competition, or personal grievances. The attacks required infrastructure-level responses, including upstream provider coordination to manage traffic flows, but did not involve publicized data breaches or compromises beyond service availability impacts. Operational consequences included financial strain from mitigation efforts and unresolved attribution challenges due to the anonymous nature of the attacks.