- Jan 16, 2001
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I was reading this article on CNN about a recent DOS attack.
The attackers hit all 13 main DNS root servers around the world, trying to shut them down.
OK, say they succeed. The internet is down. Now what? Now the thing that the hackers use for fun and profit, the internet is down. Did you not just shoot yourself in the foot? Why do they do this?
I can understand the thrill of breaking into a secure system just to see if you can. I can understand (not condone, but understand) breaking into bank accounts and stealing money w/o crashing the system. But why try to destroy it?
If you are "Mr. X" the worlds greatest hacker and you actually DO crash the entire Internet; How are you going to brag about it? The internet is DOWN!
Duh.
[snip]
The attackers hit all 13 main DNS root servers around the world, trying to shut them down.
OK, say they succeed. The internet is down. Now what? Now the thing that the hackers use for fun and profit, the internet is down. Did you not just shoot yourself in the foot? Why do they do this?
I can understand the thrill of breaking into a secure system just to see if you can. I can understand (not condone, but understand) breaking into bank accounts and stealing money w/o crashing the system. But why try to destroy it?
If you are "Mr. X" the worlds greatest hacker and you actually DO crash the entire Internet; How are you going to brag about it? The internet is DOWN!
Duh.
[snip]
[/snip]Servers match requests with sites
The 13 servers hit this week -- key to the Internet's naming system -- are responsible for matching Internet addresses with users' requests.
The attack, which began around 4:45 p.m. EDT Monday, flooded the 13 domain-name service root servers around the world with 30 to 40 times the normal amount of data. Seven of the servers were affected enough to have periods of "zero-reachability," according to Web security firm Matrix NetSystems.
It took about an hour for security specialists to enact defensive measures and restore service.
The attack failed to disrupt service because the data on the 13 key servers is replicated tens of thousands of times by Internet service providers and other computers around the world.