Targeted attacks on specific aspects/assets of a major websites infrastructure? Eg target a specific service that both sites have in common in their back end?
Not even sure if that's feasible but it's an idea.
I figured it was just a coincidence, but the HN network is so well informed I thought I'd just ask the question on the off-chance it wasn't.
I personally don't find a relation likely.
Oh I find the relation very unlikely. I was just trying to think up a potential connection for fun/curiosity, as the coincidence is pretty crazy that two huge sites known for very few/little outages had major outages in the same week.