MaxedOutMama
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Hackers Mount Major Attack
Hmm. I was startled to read this report about a major hack attack on the internet:
Hackers briefly overwhelmed at least three of the 13 computers that help manage global computer traffic Tuesday in one of the most significant attacks against the Internet since 2002.On Monday, I got reports of attacks against banks. It seems like these critters pile on and were experimenting. It's an example of why network security at banks is such a priority - the attacks were blocked, but they might not have been if the banks were not properly set up and monitoring. I don't think this is over yet either. I believe it started on Sunday.
Experts said the unusually powerful attacks lasted as long as 12 hours but passed largely unnoticed by most computer users, a testament to the resiliency of the Internet. Behind the scenes, computer scientists worldwide raced to cope with enormous volumes of data that threatened to saturate some of the Internet's most vital pipelines.
The motive for the attacks was unclear, said Duane Wessels, a researcher at the Cooperative Association for Internet Data Analysis at the San Diego Supercomputing Center. "Maybe to show off or just be disruptive; it doesn't seem to be extortion or anything like that," Wessels said.
