-Caveat Lector- ubj: Devastating attacks on the net "imminent", says report Date: 10/25/01 8:50:37 PM Central Daylight Time
Devastating attacks on the net "imminent", says report http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991477 14:27 25 October 01 Duncan Graham-Rowe A new wave of devastating internet attacks is just waiting to happen, says a report by a US internet watchdog. What is more, there is there is currently little chance of preventing it. The threat is a variation of the "denial of service" (DoS) attack, commonly used by malicious hackers to block a website by bombarding it with spurious requests. However, the new threat would target routers, key hubs of the internet's infrastructure, instead of individual websites. "We believe this to be an imminent and real threat with a potentially high impact," says the new report, Trends in Denial of Service Attack Technology, published by the Computer Emergency Response Team, at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Cascade effect Routers are the computer switching circuits that direct internet traffic to its destination. Lawrence Rogers, at CERT, says these could be used to target other routers. Targeting a sufficient number at the same time would cause a cascading effect and potentially bring the internet down as a whole, he says. "These are crucial vulnerabilities," says Rogers, "With current technology it would be difficult or impossible to prevent." He adds that it is highly plausible that people are already planning such an attack. Routers are capable of producing much more destructive DoS attacks than normal by virtue of the sheer bulk of internet traffic they handle, says Eric Chien chief researcher for Symantec Security Response, in the Netherlands. An additional problem is that many people forget to change the default passwords of routers when configuring them. The largest routers carry the most traffic and could therefore do the most damage, but these are generally well protected, says Chien. However, medium sized routers owned by small service providers, private companies or even individuals tend to be more vulnerable. And even if technicians were more vigilant hackers would still find ways in, says Rogers. Routers are also a more attractive target for hackers than other computer systems because they are more difficult to shut down. "If you're going to block a router, you're going to block all internet traffic in that region," explains Chien. This in turn can cause bottlenecks in neighbouring routers, slowing traffic. 14:27 25 October 01 <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
