<s>
High	B-Application
Orbit	I-Application
Ion	I-Application
Cannon	I-Application
(	O
HOIC	B-Application
)	O
is	O
an	O
open-source	B-Application
network	O
stress	O
testing	O
and	O
denial-of-service	O
attack	O
application	O
designed	O
to	O
attack	O
as	O
many	O
as	O
256	O
URLs	O
at	O
the	O
same	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
designed	O
to	O
replace	O
the	O
Low	B-Language
Orbit	I-Language
Ion	I-Language
Cannon	I-Language
which	O
was	O
developed	O
by	O
Praetox	B-Language
Technologies	I-Language
and	O
later	O
released	O
into	O
the	O
public	B-Application
domain	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
security	O
advisory	O
for	O
HOIC	B-Application
was	O
released	O
by	O
Prolexic	O
Technologies	O
in	O
February	O
2012	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
HOIC	B-Application
was	O
developed	O
during	O
the	O
conclusion	O
of	O
Operation	O
Payback	O
by	O
the	O
hacktivist	O
collective	O
Anonymous	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
the	O
Low	B-Language
Orbit	I-Language
Ion	I-Language
Cannon	I-Language
was	O
not	O
powerful	O
enough	O
to	O
launch	O
attacks	O
with	O
such	O
a	O
limited	O
number	O
of	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
HOIC	B-Application
was	O
designed	O
to	O
remedy	O
this	O
with	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
cause	O
an	O
HTTP	O
Flood	O
with	O
as	O
few	O
as	O
50	O
user	O
agents	O
being	O
required	O
to	O
successfully	O
launch	O
an	O
attack	O
,	O
and	O
co-ordination	O
between	O
multiple	O
users	O
leading	O
to	O
an	O
exponential	O
increase	O
in	O
the	O
damage	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
HOIC	B-Application
was	O
the	O
first	O
tool	O
of	O
its	O
kind	O
to	O
have	O
support	O
for	O
the	O
so-called	O
"	O
booster	O
files	O
"	O
,	O
configurable	O
VBscript	O
modules	O
that	O
randomize	O
the	O
HTTP	B-Protocol
headers	I-Protocol
of	O
attacking	O
computers	O
,	O
allowing	O
thousands	O
upon	O
thousands	O
of	O
highly	O
randomized	O
combinations	O
for	O
user	O
agents	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
HOIC	B-Application
and	O
its	O
predecessor	O
,	O
the	O
LOIC	B-Language
,	O
are	O
named	O
after	O
an	O
ion	O
cannon	O
,	O
a	O
fictional	O
directed-energy	O
weapon	O
described	O
as	O
firing	O
beams	O
of	O
ions	O
from	O
a	O
space-based	O
platform	O
onto	O
Earth-based	O
targets	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
ion	O
cannons	O
appear	O
in	O
many	O
movies	O
,	O
television	O
shows	O
,	O
and	O
video	O
games	O
that	O
have	O
a	O
science	O
fiction-based	O
setting	O
,	O
the	O
ones	O
depicted	O
in	O
the	O
Command	B-Application
&	I-Application
Conquer	I-Application
series	I-Application
of	O
video	O
games	O
are	O
considered	O
to	O
be	O
the	O
inspiration	O
for	O
the	O
graphics	O
on	O
the	O
software	O
's	O
GUI	B-Application
and	O
website	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Simply	O
described	O
,	O
HOIC	B-Application
is	O
a	O
program	O
for	O
sending	O
HTTP	B-Protocol
POST	I-Protocol
and	O
GET	O
requests	O
at	O
a	O
computer	O
under	O
attack	O
,	O
that	O
uses	O
a	O
lulz-inspired	O
graphical	B-Application
interface	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
HOIC	B-Application
primarily	O
performs	O
a	O
denial-of-service	O
(	O
DoS	O
)	O
attack	O
and	O
a	O
DDoS	O
attack	O
when	O
co-ordinated	O
by	O
multiple	O
individuals	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
basic	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
attack	O
can	O
be	O
customized	O
by	O
using	O
the	O
booster	O
files	O
which	O
follow	O
the	O
VB	B-Language
6	I-Language
mixed	O
with	O
VB	B-Language
.NET	I-Language
syntax	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
,	O
HOIC	B-Application
can	O
simultaneously	O
attack	O
up	O
to	O
256	O
domains	O
,	O
making	O
it	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
most	O
versatile	O
tools	O
for	O
hackers	O
who	O
are	O
attempting	O
to	O
co-ordinate	O
DDoS	O
attacks	O
as	O
a	O
group	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
minimalist	O
GUI	B-Application
of	O
the	O
tool	O
makes	O
it	O
user	O
friendly	O
and	O
easy	O
to	O
control	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Then	O
a	O
booster	O
file	O
is	O
added	O
which	O
uses	O
.hoic	O
extension	O
to	O
define	O
dynamic	O
request	O
attributes	O
,	O
launch	O
attacks	O
on	O
multiple	O
pages	O
within	O
the	O
same	O
website	O
and	O
help	O
evade	O
some	O
defense	O
filters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
attack	O
is	O
then	O
launched	O
by	O
pressing	O
the	O
red	O
button	O
in	O
the	O
GUI	B-Application
labelled	O
as	O
"	O
Fire	O
Teh	O
Lazer	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
basic	O
limitation	O
of	O
HOIC	B-Application
is	O
that	O
it	O
requires	O
a	O
coordinated	O
group	O
of	O
users	O
to	O
ensure	O
that	O
the	O
attacks	O
are	O
successful	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Even	O
though	O
it	O
has	O
allowed	O
attacks	O
to	O
be	O
launched	O
by	O
far	O
fewer	O
users	O
than	O
the	O
older	O
Low	B-Language
Orbit	I-Language
Ion	I-Language
Cannon	I-Language
,	O
HOIC	B-Application
still	O
requires	O
a	O
minimum	O
of	O
50	O
users	O
to	O
launch	O
an	O
effective	O
attack	O
and	O
more	O
are	O
required	O
to	O
sustain	O
it	O
if	O
the	O
target	O
website	O
has	O
protection	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Even	O
though	O
HOIC	B-Application
should	O
,	O
in	O
theory	O
,	O
offer	O
anonymizing	O
through	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
booster	O
files	O
,	O
the	O
actual	O
protection	O
provided	O
is	O
not	O
enough	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Furthermore	O
,	O
anonymizing	O
networks	O
such	O
as	O
TOR	O
are	O
not	O
capable	O
of	O
handling	O
the	O
bandwidth	O
of	O
attacks	O
generated	O
by	O
HOIC	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Primarily	O
,	O
HOIC	B-Application
has	O
been	O
designed	O
as	O
a	O
stress	O
testing	O
tool	O
and	O
can	O
be	O
lawfully	O
used	O
as	O
such	O
to	O
stress	O
test	O
local	O
networks	O
and	O
servers	O
provided	O
the	O
person	O
initiating	O
the	O
test	O
has	O
authorization	O
to	O
test	O
and	O
as	O
long	O
as	O
no	O
other	O
networks	O
,	O
servers	O
,	O
clients	O
,	O
networking	O
equipment	O
or	O
URLs	O
are	O
disrupted	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
HOIC	B-Application
can	O
also	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
perform	O
distributed	O
denial-of-service	O
attacks	O
,	O
which	O
are	O
illegal	O
under	O
various	O
statutes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2013	O
,	O
Anonymous	O
petitioned	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
government	O
via	O
We	B-Application
the	I-Application
People	I-Application
,	O
demanding	O
that	O
DDoS	O
attacks	O
be	O
recognized	O
as	O
a	O
form	O
of	O
virtual	O
protest	O
similar	O
to	O
Occupy	O
protests	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Anonymous	O
were	O
the	O
first	O
group	O
to	O
utilize	O
High	B-Application
Orbit	I-Application
Ion	I-Application
Cannon	I-Application
publicly	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
Megaupload	B-Application
,	O
a	O
file-sharing	O
website	O
,	O
was	O
shut	O
down	O
after	O
federal	O
agents	O
raided	O
their	O
premises	O
,	O
Anonymous	O
launched	O
an	O
attack	O
against	O
the	O
website	O
of	O
the	O
US	O
Department	O
of	O
Justice	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
#Megaupload	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
