Expert: Georgia Web Attacks Kid Stuff

Though Political In Nature, Says It Doesn't Appear To Be Internet Infrastructure Attack By Russia

(CNET)  Initial information suggests that Internet attacks on Georgian Web sites over the last two weeks are the work of kids, according to one researcher, while another says the intensity of these attacks is short-lived when compared with attacks in Estonia last year.

In an e-mail to CNET News, Gadi Evron, founder of the Zero Day Emergency Response Team, said that "although the impact on their Web sites is clear, I believe this may end up being just some kids who got overexcited, with Georgia being ill-prepared to say the least."

Posting on CircleID, Evron wrote that there are botnet attacks against .ge Web sites, but the Internet infrastructure doesn't appear to be directly attacked. "Not every fighting is warfare," wrote Evron. "While Georgia is obviously under a DDoS attacks and it is political in nature, it doesn't so far seem different than any other online aftermath by fans. Political tensions are always followed by online attacks by sympathizers."

In May 2007, the Baltic nation of Estonia was attacked online and its Internet infrastructure crippled.

On Tuesday, Jose Nazario of Arbor Networks offered in a blog more information on the strength and duration of the attacks. "Compared to the May 2007 Estonian attacks, these are more intense but have lasted (so far) for less time. This could be due to a number of factors, including more sizable botnets with more bandwidth, better bandwidth at the victims, changes in our observations, or other factors."

Nazario also said that there is evidence that the Georgians had responded by attacking a Russian newspaper Web site.

[downsteamjim]

Is Gadi Evron the son of Enron?

[caldwellptr]

And then they charge me a fee ....

[caldwellptr]

My bank hijacks my phone whenever I am late on a payment....

[incog-nito]

In a dramatic show of support, Senator McCain has called a press conference to declare that "Today, we are all Georgian hackers."

[urnot]

Thank God for the EFF.

This is clearly an issue of 1st Amendment protection. The day we allow the government to stop publication of information BEFORE it is published is the day America becomes a dictatorship. Fortunately, thoughtful justice will prevail, and this judge will get his hands slapped for being a complete moron.

"Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost."- Thomas Jefferson

"If a nation expect to be ignorant and free%u2026it expect what never was and never will be." - Thomas Jefferson

[cdfoxtrot2]

Would you leave your front door open and sue people who come in and steal stuff? .....Posted by random_radar at 12:29 PM : Aug 12, 2008

random_radar

YES.... AS A MATTER OF FACT I WILL PREFER TO SHOOT THEM IN THE HEAD THREE TIME..... 2ND AND 3RD TIME TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY ARE REALLY REALLY DEAD!!

Posted by Good4Always

Thanks for the warning. I won''t be visiting you in your trailer, or Alabama for that matter, any time soon.

[cdfoxtrot2]

MBTA should be thanking these resourceful students for their work in exposing what is clearly a second-rate technology for what it is. If the programs had been written well in the first place, these students would have been unable to, so easily, hack them.

[Syndicate]

I would prefer good natured hackers hack everything they can so that it can be repaired and made more resilient against hackers with devious intentions. In the future when governments start cracking down on their citizens it is the hacker who will deliver us from that evil.

[gurusavant]

these idiotic hackers with their stupidity and sense of entitlement to penetrate whatever they can. and in that way endangering the lives of millions. maybe even more, by eliminating security systems that were put in place to protect societies. now these funny prank lovin boys have jepordized the security of those nations that were meant to keep people safe from harm. now cuz these little boys wanted to impress their teachers and prove how smart they are and how high their IQ is, have actually proven to the whole world how dumb they really are.

[bobnjersey]

[MIT is known for it''''s promoting, encouraging and supporting sociopathic malice, disguised as funny pranks. it has got to be the most idiotic exhibition of male pride imaginable.]
[Posted by gurusavant at 12:37 PM : Aug 12, 2008]

yea ... sociopathic malic, disguised as funny pranks is what i think of when the letters ''mit'' are spoken in sequence.