Another DOS Attack in the Making? Setting up for disaster Byron Alley
The computer security organization CERT reports that an increasing number of computer systems on the Internet are being compromised in order to install distributed denial of service (DDoS) tools, such as Tribe Network Flood 2000. These programs can be remotely controlled by an attacker to create denial of service (DoS) attacks on a target computer. The number of computers infected with DDoS programs suggests that shutdowns of more web sites are imminent.
These DDoS tools were the rogue technology behind the attacks that brought down Yahoo.com and other prominent sites earlier this year. DDoS tools work in three stages. First, an attacker seeks out vulnerable computers and breaches their security, acquiring privileged access. Next, the DDoS tools are installed on the victim machine. Finally, once the DDoS tools have been installed on enough computers, the attacker signals all of them to overload a target site with certain types of network traffic.
Read the full story by MSNBC reporter Bob Sullivan.
