Cyberattack takes out government web sites
- Posted by: JP Smith | July 8, 2009
- Filed Under: Internet, Government and Politics, Safety and Security
Yesterday, news broke that a huge cyberattack crippled the web sites of the Secret Service, the Treasury Department, Federal Trade Commission, Transportation Department and other government agencies. Also, government agencies in South Korea where hit. What was shocking was the magnitude of the attack. By all indications, these attacks went on for several days, starting on July 4.
What occurred is known as a denial of service attack (know often as a 'DoS' or 'DDoS' attack). The most common method of this attack is to send so many requests to a web server that no legitimate requests can be made by other user, effectively rendering a site unreachable.
While no formal allegations have been made, there are rumblings that North Korea could be behind these attacks.
Security experts have been saying for quite some time that America needs to be focusing more heavily on cybersecurity. Perhaps this is the jolt needed to focus our efforts on this front.
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