The distributed denial of service (DDOS) attack on the Domenca website hosting service caused the websites of freesheet Žurnal24 and weeklies Demokracija and Reporter to be inaccessible for several hours on Friday morning, although service was restored around noon.

Domenca confirmed the DDOS attack, in which hackers attack servers by overflowing them with information, announcing that it has already begun an investigation with the Slovenian Computer Emergency Response Team (SI-CERT).

Domenca general manager Uroš Čimžar said that while the website hosting service is the target of regular attacks, this one was 10 to 100 times bigger than usual.

He added that the attack continued even after regular service was restored. It is as yet unclear if the attack was targeted against specific sites.

"If the investigation finds information that could be of use to the police, we will launch suitable proceedings," Čimžar said.