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Science/Tech See other Science/Tech Articles Title: Increasing Web attacks disrupt commerce Website attacks are increasing in frequency and ferocity, hammering DVD sales and disrupting online payment services. Called "distributed denial of service attacks" (DDOS), they bombard sites with so much data that legitimate traffic can't get through. They've been around for years. But they're now more powerful, and they're taking down more than just intended targets. In recent incidents, companies providing Web-hosting services for victims - as well as hundreds of their customers - have been caught in the cross-hairs, creating a wave of collateral damage. Security software giant Symantec saw an average 927 DDOS attacks per day in the first half of last year, up 679% from the last six months of 2004. Most of the attacks use PCs that are hacked illegally and turned into "bots" controlled remotely through underground networks. Hackers then rent out these bots for as little as 20 cents per computer. With millions of PCs now turned into bots, an attack can be overwhelming. "If you have a bunch of people determined to knock you off line, it is difficult to defend yourself," says Dave Cole, director of Symantec Security Response. There have been dozens of major Web attacks in the past month against sites with sizable market share, security experts say. Based on available security data, they suspect smaller Web rivals were behind many of the attacks, to gain a competitive edge. Recent examples: . Empirical Film, which sells box-set DVDs online, missed nearly two weeks of holiday sales because of a DDOS attack it believes came from an overseas competitor. More than 10,000 Web servers were used in a bot net controlled from Asia, according to Prolexic Technologies, which offers anti-DDOS attack products. As many as 1,000 other websites temporarily experienced slower service or were inaccessible because of the attack, says Jeff Posluns, chief information officer at SecuritySage Overdrive, which handles technology for Empirical, including its Web and security services. At the same time, a U.S.-based drug firm's website was disrupted for 24 hours in what appeared to be an attack from the same source in Asia, says Prolexic. The large attack was one of 10 observed in recent months by Rackspace Managed Hosting, which hosts the website of the drug company and 9,000 other firms. The FBI is probing the December attacks. . When online payment-processor StormPay booted some customers for allegedly operating a Ponzi scheme, it quickly became the target of a virulent DDOS attack that temporarily knocked it off line this month. About 120,000 machines were used in the attack, which hit websites in the Southeastern USA, as well as major telecom carriers, according to ISDN-Net, an Internet service provider in Tennessee that was affected. StormPay did not return phone calls. It acknowledged the DDOS attacks in a note to customers on its website earlier this month.
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