WikiLeaks supporters attack Visa, MasterCard

The hackers forced the organizations' websites to grind to a halt in what they called "Operation Payback." The online activists targeted companies including MasterCard and Visa.

"The group, known as Anonymous and thought to be 1,500 to 2,000-strong, flooded the websites of the credit card companies, and that of the Swedish prosecution authority, with millions of bogus visits," the British newspaper wrote late on Wednesday.

The cyber attacks came after the firms, along with online payment company PayPal, announced they will no longer process donations to WikiLeaks.

The whistleblowing site has recently published part of over 250,000 secret U.S. embassy cables. WikiLeaks came under increasing international pressure after the publication, but world leaders have tried to downplay the adverse impact of the leak. Kazinform cites RIA Novosti. See www.en.rian.ru fot full version