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Big Questions After Cyber Attacks Cripple East Coast

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Cyber attacks up and down the East Coast crippled websites many depend on Friday. Now big questions remain, leaving even the White House without answers.

The Internet was under siege, as major sites like Twitter, Netflix, Amazon and Spotify slowed tremendously or simply didn't work. The culprit? A massive cyber attack.

As Homeland Security investigated, not even the White House had all the answers.

"They'll take a close look at it. But at this point, I don't have the information to share about who may be responsible for that malicious activity," Josh Earnest, White House Press Secretary.

The major issues surfaced around 7 a.m. Friday. Services were restored about two hours later, but unfortunately, that was not the end of the attacks. More issues popped up later in the day.

Sidd Kaza, a cyber security expert with Towson University, said sophisticated attacks like this use millions of unsuspecting Americans' computers.

"So finding me is not going to help. All that will tell you is my PC was compromised. It's finding who compromised it. And, of course, if this is a real criminal attack, then they are hiding their tracks as well," said Kaza.

In a major twist, WikiLeaks, which has released sensitive government emails, hinted that its supporters were behind the attacks.

As to who is responsible, that's still unclear. A CBS News homeland security expert says investigators will certainly be looking at foreign countries--possibly Russia.

"Is this sort of a brush back pitch from the Russians sending us a message that you should be pretty careful about engaging in this sort of cyber activity with them because they are very capable," said Fran Townsend, homeland security expert.

The second attack that occurred around noon possibly affected the FBI as well.

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