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AP News experienced a partial outage on Oct. 31, 2023: its home page loaded, but links to individual stories failed for some visitors. The Associated Press said the issue was resolved by the next morning and that its mobile apps and customer delivery systems were unaffected. AP described the incident as appearing consistent with a denial-of-service attack, but had not confirmed the cause or who was responsible.
What happened to the AP News website?
On Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 31, 2023, visitors could reach apnews.com’s home page, while individual story links did not work reliably. Some story pages appeared blank; others returned error messages. The outage was therefore partial, not a shutdown of every AP service.
AP said the website problem had been resolved by Wednesday morning, Nov. 1. Its mobile apps and systems used to deliver AP journalism to customers were not affected, according to the Associated Press and the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
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Was the outage a denial-of-service or DDoS attack?
AP reported that the outage appeared consistent with a denial-of-service attack, but that was a provisional description, not a confirmed technical finding. AP media relations manager Nicole Meir said, “We’ve experienced periodic surges in traffic but we’re still looking into the cause.” The reporting does not establish the traffic volume, number of affected users, or precise mechanism behind the disruption.
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A denial-of-service attack generally overwhelms a server through a single connection; a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack uses multiple sources. The Press Freedom Tracker explains this distinction, but the available incident reporting does not show which, if either, mechanism caused the AP outage.
Did Anonymous Sudan cause the AP outage?
AP had not verified that Anonymous Sudan was responsible. The group had said it would target Western news outlets and later posted screenshots purporting to show AP and other sites unreachable. Those posts document the group’s claim; they do not independently establish that it caused this incident.
Recorded Future analyst Alexander Leslie described a tactic in which an actor conducts a temporary attack, captures screenshots as supposed proof, and presents the disruption as a major success. His comments concerned the group’s alleged claims and screenshots, not confirmation that Anonymous Sudan caused AP’s outage.
Which AP services were affected?
| Service | Reported status |
|---|---|
| AP News website | Partially disrupted: the home page loaded at points, while some story pages were blank or showed errors. |
| AP mobile apps | Unaffected, according to AP. |
| AP delivery systems for customers | Unaffected, according to AP. |
What is known—and what remains unconfirmed?
- Known: The website experienced a partial outage Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 31, and AP said it was resolved by Wednesday morning, Nov. 1, 2023.
- Known: AP’s apps and customer delivery systems continued to operate.
- Not confirmed: Whether a denial-of-service attack definitively caused the outage, what technical method was used, and whether Anonymous Sudan was behind it.
- Not reported: A precise outage duration, attack volume, or count of affected visitors.
The Press Freedom Tracker states that denial-of-service and distributed denial-of-service attacks are federal crimes under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. That general legal context does not identify an attacker or establish legal responsibility for this incident.
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