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This "Spoof" Wasn't Funny

The recent spate of denial of service attacks on major websites has raised one important question in the public mind: how in God's name did these guys get away with this undetected? While the mainstream media has promulgated a misinformed image of hackers squirreled away in cybercafes or public libraries launching these massive attacks, the truth is they used a technique called "spoofing," explained here in this fascinating article from Fairfax IT. The technique, which involves commandeering other people's computers to do the dirty work of clogging up a site's pipeline, grants the clever hacker virtually total anonymity. As one expert quoted in the piece observers, the person or persons who did this, "can perfectly well be sunning in Singapore" right about now. Scary stuff. And well worth the read.

Thu, 10 Feb 2000 07:13:55 -0800