Denial of Service Attacks Hit Major Web Sites, FBI Investigates

Strategic Insights -

Major web sites, including Yahoo!, Buy.com, eBay, and Amazon, experienced denial of service (DoS) attacks on Tuesday, causing slowdowns or outages. The attacks, which involve flooding a site with automated messages, are a form of cyber vandalism that can bring a site to a standstill. The FBI has taken an interest in the attacks and is investigating, with discussions already underway with Yahoo regarding their Monday outage.

Key Takeaways:

  • Major web sites, including Yahoo!, Buy.com, eBay, and Amazon, were hit by denial of service attacks on Tuesday.
  • The attacks, which cause a site to slow or stop responding, are caused by a huge stream of automated messages sent to the site.
  • The FBI has confirmed it is investigating the attacks and has already started discussions with Yahoo regarding their Monday outage.
  • Buy.com's site was affected for two and a half hours, with CEO Gregory Hawkins describing it as an "outside, coordinated attack" that prevented access to the site.
  • The attacks on web sites are a larger version of the denial of service attacks that are well-known in Internet relay chat.

Statistics:

  • The attacks on web sites caused slowdowns or outages at least four major sites: Yahoo!, Buy.com, eBay, and Amazon.
  • The FBI is investigating the attacks, with discussions already underway with Yahoo regarding their Monday outage.
  • The attacks caused Buy.com's site to be unavailable for two and a half hours.
  • The attacks are a form of cyber vandalism that can bring a site to a standstill.

Sources:

  • Newsbytes.com, http://www.newsbytes.com (20000209/WIRES ONLINE/DOTCOMATTACK/PHOTO)