The target was an Amazon data center in Virginia, which the criminal intended would have destroyed “about 70% of the internet”
Seth Aaron Pendley of Wichita Falls was arrested last Thursday on suspicion of trying to blow up a building, specifically an Amazon data center located in Virginia. The man risks up to 20 in a federal prison.
The man's target was a facility of the internet giant (Amazon, known primarily for the eponymous store, provides also web services to a large number of partners, including SmartWorld) which he believes is linked to the FBI, CIA and other federal agencies. Its purpose was “ wipe out about 70% of the internet “, bringing down “ the oligarchy “of power in the hands of the United States.
The investigations started last January, and at the end of the same month Pendley would have contacted via Signal with an unnamed FBI source, who on March 31 allegedly directed him to an explosives supplier who was actually an undercover agent. On the day of the exchange, last April 8, after Pendley had loaded the fake explosive on his car, the arrest was triggered.
The criminal's estimate appears anyway without any foundation . Amazon uses servers spread all over the world with a large data redundancy among them, to ensure that its services continue to be provided even in case of isolation of one or more of the data centers. Apart from that, it is practically impossible that 70% of the internet resides in one location and that this is only Amazon's. That said: narrow escape, especially for Amazon employees.
