New shield foiled Internet backbone attack

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Maybe a mistake...

...to include stories like this in all of the computer publications? It seems to me that by loudly trumpeting how the attack was "safely defeated", you are only going to accomplish the following:
1. The hackers responsible for the attack will likely take this as a personal challenge, and next time enlist 10 times (or 100 times, or whatever it takes) as many bots (or whatever) to drive the attack.
2. You are acknowledging that the hackers had an effect, otherwise the attack would have gone unnoticed, and nobody would have read about it (certainly NOT the case here...).
3. With all of the press I have seen on the topic, the hackers likely consider themselves to be "partial heros" already - this "mini-fame" garnered from the widely publicized attack will only fuel the hackers' desire to "top" the effects of the previous attack with their next attempt.
4. Other hackers will try to "best" this "mini-success" in order to get some ink, adding to the possibility that some group of them will be successful...

Would the problem just "evaporate" if there were no press on the topic? Probably not, but more likely without all the ink than with - these hackers WANT to be written about, and that's what is happening. So at least in that way, this WAS a successful attack, thanks to the press.

Posted by: sholton@...   Posted on: 03/14/07 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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