WikiLeaks hacker 'The Jester' to blame for Westboro DDoS attacks

Infamous hacker The Jester has claimed responsibility for the distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks which crashed the web site run by the controversial Westboro Baptist Church.

The organisation has been involved in a high-profile war of words with web vigilante group Anonymous, after reportedly posting an open letter on a web forum often used by Anonymous claiming to be written by the group and calling on members to attack the church.

Anonymous later posted an emergency press release on the same site saying that Westboro wrote the initial letter itself in an attempt to entrap the hacking group.

"To Anonymous: It's a trap. They've got their ports wide open to harvest IPs to sue. Don't DDoS and boycott Operation Westboro," the release warned.

The Westboro web site appeared to be hit by a DDoS attack at around this time, and some speculated that members of Anonymous had either followed the orders of the original letter, or ignored the subsequent release.

It has now emerged that 'patriotic hacker' The Jester was responsible for the attack. In a Twitter update he said: "www.godhatesfags.com - TANGO DOWN. Temporarily. For celebrating the death of US troops - honeypot fail btw."

Westboro had become notorious for its anti-gay and anti-Semitic stance and its frequent picketing of the funerals of US servicemen and women.

The Jester, who it is suspected has strong military connections, first came to light during the WikiLeaks US cable saga when he took the site down for the leaks, which he considered had put US soldiers' lives at risk.