<nettime> Attack on the Internet

[Are Flagan <areflagan@artpanorama.com>]

Many nettime readers might have followed this sensational heading over the
last couple of days, but for those that missed it (perhaps due to time
zones): the "Internet" was attacked Monday afternoon. We are talking a
denial of service attempt through overload against all the 13 root servers.
Only 4 sustained the flooding and maintained normal operation. However, the
extra load only lasted for an hour, so diversions took care of the overflow
for such a short period of time. Your quoted heroes are: ICANN, "As best we
can tell, no user noticed and the attack was dealt with and life goes on,"
and Verisign, "We were prepared, we responded quickly." Richard Clarke, the
Bush cyber tzar behind the post 9/11 electronic Pearl Harbor analogy, is
considered a prophet. Since 9 or 10 of the 13 root servers are on US soil,
under US jurisdiction, the reassuring news is that both the FBI and the
White House are now investigating. Wait for the fallout of this latest
"attack on" and ponder the cost of "defense."

-af

The first announcement:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A828-2002Oct22.html

The latest installment:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4346-2002Oct23.html

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