ITV

Tag: Netflix

  • Pauline Fischer exits Netflix as VP original films

    Pauline Fischer exits Netflix as VP original films

    MUMBAI: Netflix’s Pauline Fischer has called it a day at the streaming service as the vice-president of original films. According to reports, Fischer is leaving her post in order to establish a business consultancy company. She will be transitioning out of the company over the coming weeks, and will remain as a consultant on active productions during this period.

    The streaming service’s chief content officer Ted Sarandos shared his opinion about Fischer’s departure in a statement. Sarandos opined that she has mounted an incredible slate of original films for Netflix and the team is grateful to her for getting this important initiative underway.

    He has also stated that Netflix, in the year ahead, will exclusively premiere David Ayer’s Bright starring Will Smith, War Machine from David Michod starring Brad Pitt, Bong Joon Ho’s Okja featuring Tilda Swinton, Jake Gylenhaal and Paul Dano; Our Souls at Night from Ritesh Batra starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda, etc.

    Netflix will continue to build its original film initiative to give consumers around the world great new movies to enjoy when and how they want.

    Fischer joined Netflix in 2008 and has worked closely with Sarandos on building the company’s slate of acquired and produced new titles. Among the many projects she has overseen, Beasts of No Nation which reportedly was Netflix’s $12 million purchase in 2015 directed by Cary Fukunaga which coincided with the release on Netflix. She has also played a critical role in the Adam Sandler film The Ridiculous 6 and the Adam Wingard-directed Death Note.

  • Pauline Fischer exits Netflix as VP original films

    Pauline Fischer exits Netflix as VP original films

    MUMBAI: Netflix’s Pauline Fischer has called it a day at the streaming service as the vice-president of original films. According to reports, Fischer is leaving her post in order to establish a business consultancy company. She will be transitioning out of the company over the coming weeks, and will remain as a consultant on active productions during this period.

    The streaming service’s chief content officer Ted Sarandos shared his opinion about Fischer’s departure in a statement. Sarandos opined that she has mounted an incredible slate of original films for Netflix and the team is grateful to her for getting this important initiative underway.

    He has also stated that Netflix, in the year ahead, will exclusively premiere David Ayer’s Bright starring Will Smith, War Machine from David Michod starring Brad Pitt, Bong Joon Ho’s Okja featuring Tilda Swinton, Jake Gylenhaal and Paul Dano; Our Souls at Night from Ritesh Batra starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda, etc.

    Netflix will continue to build its original film initiative to give consumers around the world great new movies to enjoy when and how they want.

    Fischer joined Netflix in 2008 and has worked closely with Sarandos on building the company’s slate of acquired and produced new titles. Among the many projects she has overseen, Beasts of No Nation which reportedly was Netflix’s $12 million purchase in 2015 directed by Cary Fukunaga which coincided with the release on Netflix. She has also played a critical role in the Adam Sandler film The Ridiculous 6 and the Adam Wingard-directed Death Note.

  • Demand for telco OTT video & broadband; Netflix, Viu long way to go: MPA

    Demand for telco OTT video & broadband; Netflix, Viu long way to go: MPA

    MUMBAI: Media Partners Asia (MPA) yesterday launched the Asia Video Consumer Panel, a research report offering detailed insights into how consumers engage, use and interact with video content in emerging and mature markets, focusing on TV and digital video platforms, including key regional and local OTT video operators.

    MPA, a leading independent consulting and research provider focused on Asia media & telecoms, offers a range of customized services to help drive business development, strategy & planning, M&A, new products & services and research.

    The panel covers six Asian markets – Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand – with a 1,000 user panel size in each market, taking in millennial and older demos as well as skewing towards mobile in emerging markets such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand.

    Commenting on the report’s key findings, MPA vice president Aravind Venugopal said: The importance of bundling with telecom and IP-based pay-TV operators to drive online video adoption is becoming critical, as illustrated by our survey. As we are still very much in the first innings of the SVOD online video cycle in most Asian markets, the journey for most platforms from building awareness to generating trial users, and then to finally converting them to regular users, is long and arduous.

    In four of the markets surveyed – Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Philippines – local players have taken the lead when it comes to building awareness and conversion, led by incumbent pay-TV and free TV operators, a number of which are reliant on local and Asian content, and in certain cases, sports. Global and pan regional SVOD services focused on providing international content, are fighting to take the lead, though conversion has been low in general. In terms of both awareness and conversion, Netflix and iflix both lead in selected markets with Viu also robust across most markets.

    Some of the key highlights of the panel include:

    Telco and pay-TV integration. The importance of bundling and OTT integration deals with telecom and pay-TV operators to drive adoption has emerged as key with most survey respondents indicating that they opted for OTT services via their telco or pay-TV operator. Netflix was an exception, with a high proportion of subscribers indicating that they opted for a direct sign up.

    NPS in negative territory. Net Promoter Scores or NPS, which range from -100 to 100 and measure the willingness of customers to recommend a company’s products or services to others, were largely negative in most markets. The exception was Netflix, which received a positive score in four of the six surveyed markets, and also leads the NPS rankings in four of the six markets surveyed. Users in Indonesia, Singapore and Hong Kong tended to award negative NPS to almost all SVOD-based OTT video service providers. Users in Thailand, Malaysia and Philippines appeared to be more positive about OTT video service providers.

    Key features. Feature sets that were most often highlighted as being essential to users was the ability to stream online video to TV, followed by the ability to download. These are also reflective of the type of content contained in the services, as well as the type and quality of broadband infrastructure available.

    Content. The importance of day and date content, particularly Hollywood movies, was reflected in the survey with the genre coming out on top of the list of ‘must have’ genres for a premium SVOD service. This was closely followed by new Korean dramas, new Chinese dramas and new Hollywood series. Sports is also increasingly important.

    UI /UX and lack of localization. A significant proportion of users indicated that they were unable to locate/find shows in the services – indicating either a lack of content, or limitations of the UI/UX – this, significantly, was highlighted as an issue even for Netflix. A numbers of respondents also indicated that the poor dubbing/subtitling of shows was a concern.

    Pay-TV consumption. In two emerging Asian markets (Thailand, Indonesia) and in Hong Kong, the consumption of pay-TV is trending lower, with streaming/on-demand services accounting for a vast majority of content needs. In some instance (i.e. Hong Kong), the incumbent pay-TV operator (i.e. Now TV) is driving the legal consumption of streaming video services.

    Piracy. There remains increasing prevalence of pirated STBs. On average, 5-10% of the surveyed base admitted to using a pirate STB to access pay-TV services.

    Payment mechanisms. In the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia, the frequent topping up of prepaid credit balances is commonplace; on average, respondents topped up their services over three times a month. This provides insight on how much consumers are willing to pay for SVOD services and potentially supports the case for sachet pricing.

    The Panel, conducted in partnership with BDRC Continental, covers six Asian markets (with a total sample size of 6,000 individuals), cutting across a broad range of demographics. The full findings from the second phase of this survey will be released in April 2017, providing readers with updated views, new data and additional metrics.

  • Demand for telco OTT video & broadband; Netflix, Viu long way to go: MPA

    Demand for telco OTT video & broadband; Netflix, Viu long way to go: MPA

    MUMBAI: Media Partners Asia (MPA) yesterday launched the Asia Video Consumer Panel, a research report offering detailed insights into how consumers engage, use and interact with video content in emerging and mature markets, focusing on TV and digital video platforms, including key regional and local OTT video operators.

    MPA, a leading independent consulting and research provider focused on Asia media & telecoms, offers a range of customized services to help drive business development, strategy & planning, M&A, new products & services and research.

    The panel covers six Asian markets – Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand – with a 1,000 user panel size in each market, taking in millennial and older demos as well as skewing towards mobile in emerging markets such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand.

    Commenting on the report’s key findings, MPA vice president Aravind Venugopal said: The importance of bundling with telecom and IP-based pay-TV operators to drive online video adoption is becoming critical, as illustrated by our survey. As we are still very much in the first innings of the SVOD online video cycle in most Asian markets, the journey for most platforms from building awareness to generating trial users, and then to finally converting them to regular users, is long and arduous.

    In four of the markets surveyed – Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Philippines – local players have taken the lead when it comes to building awareness and conversion, led by incumbent pay-TV and free TV operators, a number of which are reliant on local and Asian content, and in certain cases, sports. Global and pan regional SVOD services focused on providing international content, are fighting to take the lead, though conversion has been low in general. In terms of both awareness and conversion, Netflix and iflix both lead in selected markets with Viu also robust across most markets.

    Some of the key highlights of the panel include:

    Telco and pay-TV integration. The importance of bundling and OTT integration deals with telecom and pay-TV operators to drive adoption has emerged as key with most survey respondents indicating that they opted for OTT services via their telco or pay-TV operator. Netflix was an exception, with a high proportion of subscribers indicating that they opted for a direct sign up.

    NPS in negative territory. Net Promoter Scores or NPS, which range from -100 to 100 and measure the willingness of customers to recommend a company’s products or services to others, were largely negative in most markets. The exception was Netflix, which received a positive score in four of the six surveyed markets, and also leads the NPS rankings in four of the six markets surveyed. Users in Indonesia, Singapore and Hong Kong tended to award negative NPS to almost all SVOD-based OTT video service providers. Users in Thailand, Malaysia and Philippines appeared to be more positive about OTT video service providers.

    Key features. Feature sets that were most often highlighted as being essential to users was the ability to stream online video to TV, followed by the ability to download. These are also reflective of the type of content contained in the services, as well as the type and quality of broadband infrastructure available.

    Content. The importance of day and date content, particularly Hollywood movies, was reflected in the survey with the genre coming out on top of the list of ‘must have’ genres for a premium SVOD service. This was closely followed by new Korean dramas, new Chinese dramas and new Hollywood series. Sports is also increasingly important.

    UI /UX and lack of localization. A significant proportion of users indicated that they were unable to locate/find shows in the services – indicating either a lack of content, or limitations of the UI/UX – this, significantly, was highlighted as an issue even for Netflix. A numbers of respondents also indicated that the poor dubbing/subtitling of shows was a concern.

    Pay-TV consumption. In two emerging Asian markets (Thailand, Indonesia) and in Hong Kong, the consumption of pay-TV is trending lower, with streaming/on-demand services accounting for a vast majority of content needs. In some instance (i.e. Hong Kong), the incumbent pay-TV operator (i.e. Now TV) is driving the legal consumption of streaming video services.

    Piracy. There remains increasing prevalence of pirated STBs. On average, 5-10% of the surveyed base admitted to using a pirate STB to access pay-TV services.

    Payment mechanisms. In the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia, the frequent topping up of prepaid credit balances is commonplace; on average, respondents topped up their services over three times a month. This provides insight on how much consumers are willing to pay for SVOD services and potentially supports the case for sachet pricing.

    The Panel, conducted in partnership with BDRC Continental, covers six Asian markets (with a total sample size of 6,000 individuals), cutting across a broad range of demographics. The full findings from the second phase of this survey will be released in April 2017, providing readers with updated views, new data and additional metrics.

  • Netflix ties up with PTCL as Amazon woos India

    Netflix ties up with PTCL as Amazon woos India

    MUMBAI: As the world’s leading video-streaming network Netflix and e-commerce giant Amazon take different routes to reach out to the Indian audience while they expand globally, the former is partnering with a top-ranking company in India’s neighbourhood Pakistan, thus strengthening its hold in the sub-continent.

    While Amazon is relying on going local with its video streaming service, Netflix is depending on its global programming.Amazon meantime has commissioned “Baahubali: The Lost Legends,” a new animated series in India based on a local blockbuster movie.

    Pakistani telco PTCL has signed a partnership agreement with Netflix. The two companies will use their respective resources for a symbiotic relationship, maximising the viewing experience and penetration of Netflix services in the Islamic state. This pact will serve as the way forward for both Netflix and PTCL to provide digital content. PTCL will promote and aid original Netflix content in Pakistan.

    Amazon Studios chief Roy Price frequents India scouting for locally appealing programming for Amazon’s forthcoming video service.

    Though Netflix made its India debut around 10 months ago, it makes content-buying decisions out of Los Angeles, even for regional shows, to ensure they have global appeal. For example, the deal with Indian producer Phantom Films for its new Indian original series, based on the internationally acclaimed Mumbai crime novel “Sacred Games.”

    In Pakistan however PTCL became the only service provider with advanced caching servers and technical pairing with Netflix to offer the superior viewing experience since Netflix’s global launch in January 2016. The Netflix Pakistan website says users can start using services starting $7.99 a month, with a free month offer.

    Netflix made the announcement during a keynote by Co-founder and Chief Executive Reed Hastings: “Today you are witnessing the birth of a new global Internet TV network.” Members with a streaming-only plan will be able to watch instantly through the Netflix service. The movies and TV shows that are available to stream may vary by location, and will change from time to time.

    India, Nigeria, Russia and Saudi Arabia were among the major countries where the service was launched, Hastings said at a Consumer Electronics Show keynote in Las Vegas.

    The company recently said it was exploring options for providing its services in China. The company said in July that plans to enter China in 2016 could be delayed. However, Netflix added simplified and traditional Chinese to the 17 languages it already supports.

    PTCL’s chief commercial officer Adnan Shahid described digital entertainment as PTCL’s “key priority”. Netflix, which has expanded into some 190 countries following a near-global launch in January, doesn’t believe in a physical presence in every market.

    Amazon has been selective internationally, pushing Prime Video into some European markets, Japan, and now India. Its bet is that homegrown programming will win over Indian audiences, a strategy analysts say could also help increase Amazon shoppers’ loyalty.

    Netflix is generally reviewed as a stand-alone streaming business, with 87 million subscribers, while Amazon’s video operations are part of the giant’s much larger e-commerce business, with 60 million global Prime members, according to Morgan Stanley estimates.

  • Netflix ties up with PTCL as Amazon woos India

    Netflix ties up with PTCL as Amazon woos India

    MUMBAI: As the world’s leading video-streaming network Netflix and e-commerce giant Amazon take different routes to reach out to the Indian audience while they expand globally, the former is partnering with a top-ranking company in India’s neighbourhood Pakistan, thus strengthening its hold in the sub-continent.

    While Amazon is relying on going local with its video streaming service, Netflix is depending on its global programming.Amazon meantime has commissioned “Baahubali: The Lost Legends,” a new animated series in India based on a local blockbuster movie.

    Pakistani telco PTCL has signed a partnership agreement with Netflix. The two companies will use their respective resources for a symbiotic relationship, maximising the viewing experience and penetration of Netflix services in the Islamic state. This pact will serve as the way forward for both Netflix and PTCL to provide digital content. PTCL will promote and aid original Netflix content in Pakistan.

    Amazon Studios chief Roy Price frequents India scouting for locally appealing programming for Amazon’s forthcoming video service.

    Though Netflix made its India debut around 10 months ago, it makes content-buying decisions out of Los Angeles, even for regional shows, to ensure they have global appeal. For example, the deal with Indian producer Phantom Films for its new Indian original series, based on the internationally acclaimed Mumbai crime novel “Sacred Games.”

    In Pakistan however PTCL became the only service provider with advanced caching servers and technical pairing with Netflix to offer the superior viewing experience since Netflix’s global launch in January 2016. The Netflix Pakistan website says users can start using services starting $7.99 a month, with a free month offer.

    Netflix made the announcement during a keynote by Co-founder and Chief Executive Reed Hastings: “Today you are witnessing the birth of a new global Internet TV network.” Members with a streaming-only plan will be able to watch instantly through the Netflix service. The movies and TV shows that are available to stream may vary by location, and will change from time to time.

    India, Nigeria, Russia and Saudi Arabia were among the major countries where the service was launched, Hastings said at a Consumer Electronics Show keynote in Las Vegas.

    The company recently said it was exploring options for providing its services in China. The company said in July that plans to enter China in 2016 could be delayed. However, Netflix added simplified and traditional Chinese to the 17 languages it already supports.

    PTCL’s chief commercial officer Adnan Shahid described digital entertainment as PTCL’s “key priority”. Netflix, which has expanded into some 190 countries following a near-global launch in January, doesn’t believe in a physical presence in every market.

    Amazon has been selective internationally, pushing Prime Video into some European markets, Japan, and now India. Its bet is that homegrown programming will win over Indian audiences, a strategy analysts say could also help increase Amazon shoppers’ loyalty.

    Netflix is generally reviewed as a stand-alone streaming business, with 87 million subscribers, while Amazon’s video operations are part of the giant’s much larger e-commerce business, with 60 million global Prime members, according to Morgan Stanley estimates.

  • Share all World Cup, T-20 feeds with Prasar Bharati, rights holder told

    Share all World Cup, T-20 feeds with Prasar Bharati, rights holder told

    NEW DELHI: The telecast of all official one-day and Twenty-20 matches played by the Indian Men’s Cricket Team will henceforth have to be shared by the rights holder with the public broadcaster Prasar Bharati under the Sports Broadcasting Signals (Mandatory Sharing with Prasar Bharati) Act 2007.

    A Gazette notification issued on 22 October 2016 and placed on the Information and Broadcasting Ministry website today also states that this includes “such Test matches as are considered to be of high public interest by the Central Government.”

    In addition, the notification says this also includes semi-finals and finals of Men’s World Cup and International Cricket Council Championship Trophy will also figure among the the sporting events of national importance with respect to cricket.

    The notification has been issued by the Government under Section 2 (1) of the Act read with Rule 6(1) of the Sports Broadcast Signals (Mandatory Sharing with Prasar Bharati) Rules 2007. The notification issued by the joint secretary Anju Nigam, says this is in supersession of the notification of the Government of 23 August 2012.

    A Ministry source told indiantelevision.com that the notification had been issued in view of some cases filed earlier in the different courts and to avoid further litigation with regard to sharing the feed with All India Radio and Doordarshan with regard to cricket.Motion Pictures Association, MPA, Netflix, RedBull Media House, torrent, forensic watermarking, online piracy

  • Share all World Cup, T-20 feeds with Prasar Bharati, rights holder told

    Share all World Cup, T-20 feeds with Prasar Bharati, rights holder told

    NEW DELHI: The telecast of all official one-day and Twenty-20 matches played by the Indian Men’s Cricket Team will henceforth have to be shared by the rights holder with the public broadcaster Prasar Bharati under the Sports Broadcasting Signals (Mandatory Sharing with Prasar Bharati) Act 2007.

    A Gazette notification issued on 22 October 2016 and placed on the Information and Broadcasting Ministry website today also states that this includes “such Test matches as are considered to be of high public interest by the Central Government.”

    In addition, the notification says this also includes semi-finals and finals of Men’s World Cup and International Cricket Council Championship Trophy will also figure among the the sporting events of national importance with respect to cricket.

    The notification has been issued by the Government under Section 2 (1) of the Act read with Rule 6(1) of the Sports Broadcast Signals (Mandatory Sharing with Prasar Bharati) Rules 2007. The notification issued by the joint secretary Anju Nigam, says this is in supersession of the notification of the Government of 23 August 2012.

    A Ministry source told indiantelevision.com that the notification had been issued in view of some cases filed earlier in the different courts and to avoid further litigation with regard to sharing the feed with All India Radio and Doordarshan with regard to cricket.Motion Pictures Association, MPA, Netflix, RedBull Media House, torrent, forensic watermarking, online piracy

  • IoT is risk to networks; Netflix, PayPal, Twitter and Amazon temporarily shut in cyber attack

    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.

  • IoT is risk to networks; Netflix, PayPal, Twitter and Amazon temporarily shut in cyber attack

    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.