Just as quickly as controversy arrived in the Apple App Store, it has departed.
Apple has pulled the plug on an unofficial WikiLeaks iPhone App that was initially approved by the App Store just days ago.
The app’s developer Igor Barinov confirmed that Apple has, indeed, cut off the app’s availability. The Cupertino-based tech giant, however, is yet to offer comment on the matter.
The app in question – which is “unofficial” in the sense that it isn’t formally affiliated with WikiLeaks or its founder Julian Assange – cost $1.99 and delivered access to the documents that launched WikiLeaks into a cloud of controversy that still looms large.
Following the app’s removal from the App Store, concerns surfaced that supporters of WikiLeaks will launch a vengeful cyber attack on Apple.
According to the Washington Post:
The move may put Apple at risk for a distributed-denial-of-service attack, of DDoS, from Assange supporters. A DDoS attack floods a target site with external requests, making it nearly impossible for the site to function normally. Hackers sympathetic to Assange have claimed credit for similar attacks on Amazon and PayPal.
Since November, Amazon, PayPal, Mastercard, Visa, and Bank of America have all ended business, banking, and financial relationships with WikiLeaks.
