e-commerce
IoT is risk to networks; Netflix, PayPal, Twitter and Amazon temporarily shut in cyber attack
MUMBAI: Nobody is safe until everybody is safe, it is said. The most hyped and happening currency in the world of communication as well as the best weaponry in the wireless world — the Internet — was under attack. Cyber attackers can DDoS (Distributed denial of service) for a range of purposes, including censorship, protest and extortion.
Users in Europe and Asia may, however, experience fewer problems than those in the U.S.
The FBI and Department of Homeland Security are investigating the disruption that appears to be the result of repeated attacks on a critical internet infrastructure service.
Major internet services including Amazon, Twitter, Spotify, Reddit, SoundCloud, OTT services like Netflix, and Airbnb, suffered severe service interruptions and outages on Friday as a US internet provider came under a cyber attack. The attack meant that millions of internet users could not access the websites of major online companies.
Other sites experiencing issues include Boston Globe, New York Times, Box, Github, Freshbooks, Heroku and Vox Media properties.
A map published by the website downdetector.com showed service interruptions for Level3 Communications, which is dubbed as the “backbone” internet service provider, across much of the US east coast and in Texas. Dyn, the internet service company, which manages and routes internet traffic, said that it had suffered a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack on its domain name service shortly after 1100 GMT. The service was restored in about two hours, Dyn said.
The website Gizmodo said it had received reports of difficulty at sites for media outlets including CNN, The Guardian, Wired, HBO and People as well as the money transfer service PayPal. Dyn, which is headquartered in New Hampshire (US), said the attack went after its domain name service, causing interruptions and slowdowns for internet users. Dyn said it was continuing to investigate.
Amazon Web Services, which hosts some of the famed sites, including the homestay network Airbnb, and Netflix, said on its website that users experienced errors including “hostname unknown” when attempting to access hosted sites but that the problem had been resolved by 1310 GMT.
Domain name servers are a crucial element of internet infrastructure, converting numbered Internet Protocol addresses into the domain names that allow users to connect to internet sites. DDoS attacks involve flooding websites with traffic, making them difficult to access or taking them offline entirely.
Carbon Black founder and a former NSA engineer said that the internet continues to rely on protocols and infrastructure designed before cyber security was an issue. He said that growing interconnection of ordinary devices to the internet, the so-called “internet of things,” increased the risks to networks.
Dyn chief strategy officer Kyle York told ABC News that DDoS attacks are daily occurrences, but this one is “just incredibly sophisticated and complex.”
DDoS attacks are generally unsophisticated in nature. Akamai security advocate Martin McKeay said that anyone from a young hacker messing around, to hackivists, to a criminal organization or even a nation state could be behind the attack.
e-commerce
Flipkart and Uber team up to let users earn Supercoins on rides
New partnership turns everyday commutes into rewarding journeys for millions of Indians.
MUMBAI: Flipkart and Uber have joined forces to give riders a little extra mileage this time, in the form of Supercoins. The two platforms have announced a collaboration that allows Flipkart users to earn 4 per cent of their Uber fare as Supercoins on every eligible ride, up to a maximum of 150 coins per trip, with no cap on total earnings. The coins are credited directly to the user’s Flipkart account and can be redeemed across the Flipkart ecosystem, including Flipkart Minutes, Cleartrip, and partner offerings.
New Uber users or those who haven’t used the app in the last 84 days can earn an additional 150 bonus Supercoins by completing their first ride within 28 days of linking accounts. Users who link their accounts between 15 and 30 April 2026 and complete their first ride within 28 days will receive another 50 bonus SuperCoins.
Flipkart vice president, payments and supercoins Gaurav Arora said, “Supercoins is evolving into a broader rewards layer across everyday use cases. Mobility is a natural extension, and this partnership with Uber allows us to integrate more seamlessly into how customers transact daily.”
Uber director of business development at India and South Asia Arnab Kumar added, “This integration allows us to extend additional benefits to riders in a simple and intuitive way, while building on how users engage with everyday services across platforms.”
The partnership brings together two high-frequency consumer platforms and reflects a growing trend of integrating loyalty rewards into daily mobility and lifestyle experiences.
In a country where commutes are a daily reality, Flipkart and Uber have found a smart way to make every ride a little more rewarding. With Supercoins now earned on the go, users can turn their everyday journeys into opportunities to save and enjoy more across the Flipkart ecosystem. The partnership is a win-win that puts loyalty on the fast lane.
