A number of UK online tech shops have been hit by DDoS attacks. The series of attacks have come with ransom demands from a group demanding 16.66 Bitcoins (around £3000) in return for desisting the attacks.

DDoS attacks are where a group of attackers make repeated demands from a website until the system crashes. The system of attack has been used to attack governments and other public bodies in political stunts, but this is one of the first widespread attacks to be made for purely criminal intent.

The four e-tailers are believed to be Aria, Overclockers, Novatech and SCAN. Instead of paying the hackers off, the owner of Aria has offered a bounty for the names and source of the attackers, which some industry commentators have praised.

Director of technology security at VAR Sapphire David Lannin said of the threat to online retailers, “They [DDoS attacks] are certainly on the rise and becoming more and more prevalent. We are increasingly being asked not just how to protect our customers from standard types of malware threats but also how do we ensure continuity to business as well? That’s really where DDoS comes into play.”