The root nameservers are critical infrastructure components of the Internet, mapping domain names to IP addresses and other resource record (RR) data.
On October 21, 2002 an attack lasting for approximately one hour was targeted at all 13 DNS root name servers.
At least two of the root servers (G-ROOT and L-ROOT) reportedly "suffered badly" while two others (F-ROOT and M-ROOT) "experienced heavy traffic".
[5][6] On February 12, 2012, a statement[7] was posted on Pastebin cited to be from Anonymous, threatening an attack on the root servers on March 31, 2012.
[8] "To protest SOPA, Wallstreet, our irresponsible leaders and the beloved bankers who are starving the world for their own selfish needs out of sheer sadistic fun, On March 31, anonymous will shut the Internet down," reads the statement.