Worldwide and popular website Twitter came to a grinding halt on Thursday morning after it was the victim of an organised cyber attack. The ever growing and widely used status update site was attacked in what is called a denial-of-service hit. Though a variety of measures can be taken to shut a website down, company servers are normally targeted, usually being flooded with data causing a crash.

Beginning early on Thursday it still isn’t known how widely the attack has been and how much of an effect it will cause to the service. Speaking from their blog, Biz Stone the company’s co-founder said “On this otherwise happy Thursday morning, Twitter is the target of a denial of service attack. Attacks such as this are malicious efforts orchestrated to disrupt and make unavailable services such as online banks, credit card payment gateways, and in this case, Twitter for intended customers or users.”

Twitter resumed sporadic service after Mr Stone made the announcement, and shortages and time delays are still being seen. The company announced on their blog that they are “continuing to defend against and recover from this attack.”

In June, a study produced by ComScore predicted that the phenomenal growth in the micro blogging site had led to some 45million users, including many celebrities, utilising the tool. The true figure remains grossly underestimated due to many individuals accessing the service through third-party developed software such as “Tweetdeck”, or mobile phones.

A leading cyber-security guru who was posted to the White House in February has quit her post after only six months. Melissa Hathaway, a former strategist, was placed in the White House as a national cyber advisor after President Obama tried to tackle cyber threats and theft. Starting the placement at the beginning of the year, it was thought that Ms Hathaway would be offered a full time position after an announcement in May revealed plans to develop safety protocols and procedures to secure American networks against attacks.

Speaking of his concern over possible threats to their network, President Obama revealed that protecting computer networks from attacks was high on their priority list. He mentioned that the past few years have seen heightening numbers of attempted hacks into government and military systems, and that he planned to create a cyber-security office in the White House, adding that he personally would appoint the “cyber-tsar.”

Attention naturally turned to Ms Hathaway who, upon the president’s words, seemed highly appropriate for the post. In February she accepted a position on the National Security and Homeland Security Councils, where she acted as senior director. A natural progression for Ms Hathaway, she was appointed the White House’s cyber-tsar, providing the Obama administration with a complete view on cyber-security in April.

Whilst it remains to be seen who will be appointed as her successor, the only mention that Ms Hathaway has made of the job in hand was that it was “a marathon, not a sprint.” She confirmed she was leaving due to “personal reasons” and said she would look for a role within the private sector.