Whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks has appealed for fresh donations after it was knocked offline under the weight of a denial-of-service attack.
The site has come under fire after it released further diplomatic cables from the US. "WikiLeaks.org is presently under attack," said the site said on its Twitter feed, before its main site crashed under the assault.
Although the site, which has upset governments around the world with its revelations, referred users to mirror sites and a searchable database that was still up and running, the administrators appealed for donations to help keep the services online.
"Want to really help WikiLeaks fend off attacks? Send us money to pay the bills," the company posted in its begging tweet. "Many people x $5 = strength."
The release of the documents and hack come at a time when media interest in the leaks appears to be waning, and with Julian Assange still awaiting a British court ruling on an extradition request from Sweden relating to sexual misconduct allegations.
The site has faced difficulty attracting donations, and has ongoing legal action against MasterCard and Visa following the payment platforms' decision to stop accepting payments for WikiLeaks.
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