[Infowarrior] - Hackers Attack Key Net Traffic Computers

[Richard Forno]

Feb 6, 3:55 PM EST

Hackers Attack Key Net Traffic Computers

By TED BRIDIS
Associated Press Writer
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/INTERNET_ATTACKS?SITE=WIRE&SECTION=HO
ME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hackers briefly overwhelmed at least three of the 13
computers that help manage global computer traffic Tuesday in one of the
most significant attacks against the Internet since 2002.

Experts said the unusually powerful attacks lasted for hours but passed
largely unnoticed by most computer users, a testament to the resiliency of
the Internet. Behind the scenes, computer scientists worldwide raced to cope
with enormous volumes of data that threatened to saturate some of the
Internet's most vital pipelines.

Experts said the hackers appeared to disguise their origin, but vast amounts
of rogue data in the attacks were traced to South Korea.

The attacks appeared to target UltraDNS, the company that operates servers
managing traffic for Web sites ending in "org" and some other suffixes,
experts said. Company officials did not immediately return telephone calls
from The Associated Press.

Among the targeted "root" servers that manage global Internet traffic were
ones operated by the Defense Department and the Internet's primary oversight
body.

"There was what appears to be some form of attack during the night hours
here in California and into the morning," said John Crain, chief technical
officer for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. He said
the attack was continuing and so was the hunt for its origin.

"I don't think anybody has the full picture," Crain said. "We're looking at
the data."

Crain said Tuesday's attack was less serious than attacks against the same
13 "root" servers in October 2002 because technology innovations in recent
years have increasingly distributed their workloads to other computers
around the globe.

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AP Internet Writer Anick Jesdanun contributed to this story from New York.

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