http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/attacks/232600497 By Mathew J. Schwartz InformationWeek February 09, 2012 How hard is it to launch a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack? Arguably, the hacktivist collective Anonymous has made launching DDoS attacks look easy, due to its high-profile DDoS campaigns against everyone from PayPal and MasterCard to the FBI and Department of Justice. In addition, Anonymous offered the promise of one-click attacks via its low orbit ion cannon (LOIC) DDoS attack tool. While LOIC was great at building buzz for Anonymous, it also provided valuable intelligence for law enforcement agencies, since many users apparently didn't realize that the tool alone wouldn't obscure their IP address from the sites they attacked. But LOIC, it turns out, is just one of many DDoS tools now available for online use, downloading, or renting. Indeed, there's now a thriving DDoS tool and botnet ecosystem that includes "single user flooding tools, small host booters, shell booters, remote access Trojans (RATs) with flooding capabilities, simple DDoS bots, complex DDoS bots, and some commercial DDoS services," said Curt Wilson, a research analyst at Arbor Networks, in a blog post. "Many types of threats can be blended into any given tool in order to make the tool more attractive and financially lucrative"--as in, profitable for whoever's renting out the DDoS capabilities. [...] ______________________________________________________________________________ Certified Ethical Hacker and CISSP training with Expanding Security gives the best training and support. Get a free live class invite weekly. Best program, best price. www.ExpandingSecurity.com/PainPillReceived on Fri Feb 10 2012 - 02:17:50 PST
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