Cybersecurity

National Intelligence Director Says Data Suggests ‘Nonstate Actor’ Was Behind Cyberattack

U.S. officials and security researchers said it doesn’t appear that national governments were behind Friday’s massive internet attack, which briefly blocked access to dozens of popular websites such as PayPal, Twitter and Netflix.

National Intelligence Director James Clapper said Tuesday that it appeared a “nonstate actor” was behind the attack, which used a vast collection of internet-linked devices to create a flood of traffic that essentially overwhelmed a key cog in the internet.

Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on Tuesday, Mr. Clapper said investigators were gathering a lot of data, and that preliminary indications were that it was a nonstate actor.