(Newser) – Hackers across Russia are executing crippling attacks against enemy websites—and they work for hire, Der Spiegel reports. For only a few hundred dollars, clients can retain Russian hackers to disrupt business transactions by launching barrages of pernicious data into their enemies' systems. But a disturbing trend is evident in recent cyberassaults on websites hostile to the Putin government.

So-called Distributed Denial of Service attacks are increasingly common in Russia, where there's little chance of getting caught. In fact, some DDoSs may be tacitly encouraged—the website of a prominent Russian political faction critical of Putin was shut down shortly before planned demonstrations, as was the influential website of one of Moscow's few opposition radio stations.