DDOS, Cyber War & Operation Payback: How the Internet is Used for Revenge

Supporters of WikiLeaks and Julian Assange have been staging DDOS attacks on major companies in America. What does this involve exactly? Some people think of DDOS attacks as a prank and others think of them as terrorism. As DDOS attacks increase, there will probably be new laws created to clearly state the penalties for this crime in countries where it is deemed illegal.

DDOS Attack

A DDOS attack is a "denial of service" (DOS) attack, from one computer or a distributed network of many. This involves bombarding computers that run the target's website with more traffic than they can handle. As a result, the website becomes hard to reach, or crashes completely, reports The Economist.

During a DDOS attack, the company under attack may see traffic on the computer system from up to thousands of computers all over the world, notes James Madison University. The computers used in the attack may have been manipulated. Thus, they show a different IP address than was originally connected with that computer. Each computer has a unique IP address.

DDOS attacks may be a once-only occurrence, or there may be ongoing attacks. The surprise element to a DDOS attack probably creates a lot of chaos among the leadership of the company under attack. Every company should have a disaster plan in place to tell employees what to do if a DDOS attack occurs.

Is it possible to upgrade a company's technology to avoid a DDOS attack? Time will tell on that question. Many companies are probably spending a lot of money right now to ensure that their website and information databases are secure.

Getting hit with a DDOS attack often causes a severe loss of revenue to the company. It also damages the credibility of the company. Once consumers know that the company does not have a secure website, they may be wary of doing business with that retailer.

Cyber War

A cyber war is a new way for people, groups or countries to wage war via a computer. War no longer has to involve weapons. It may be conducted from a computer located anywhere in the world.

A cyber war can be used to shut down important aspects of a country, such as its nuclear facilities, its power sources, its water systems or its transportation systems. A cyber war could also use attacks on government websites and websites of specific politicians. An unexpected cyber war DDOS attack can quickly shut down important systems used to keep a country functioning smoothly.

Cyber war can also involve computer attacks on businesses, banks, religious groups, media companies, hospitals or fire and police department computer systems. Hackers are adept at finding new ways to attack computer systems.

Operation Payback

Operation Payback has been underway for some time, even before Julian Assange made WikiLeaks public. The supporters of WikiLeaks have now been using DDOS attacks as a form of cyber warfare against companies that terminated Assange's accounts due to the furor of WikiLeaks' release of diplomatic cables.

Hackers called Anonymous (or anon) have created DDOS attacks on companies including Amazon, Visa, Mastercard and PayPal. This group is on the attack against any company that caused trouble for Assange or WikiLeaks. These hacktivists (Internet activists) are loosely connected via the participation of many of them at the 4chan hacker website.

Sources:

The Economist

James Madison University