DDOS attacks are getting more frequent

On 7 June, there was a reported case of a successful botnet Distributed Denial of Services DDOS attack. This type of attack was difficult to prevent since current technology could only divert the traffic after the attack has been launched. Due to the fact that the sources of attack are highly distributed, we could never monitor nor stop the DDOS attack. Once the attack is launched, the affected system will be unable to response to normal users.

DDOS attacks are real and there were even reported cases on DDOS against a national body Estonia.

The scary thing about DDOS is the growing number of botnet . With the higher penetration of broadband internet, more computers will be connecting to the Internet 24x7. If the management of these computers is not done securely, they will be a breading ground for botnets and viruses. One area to pay special notice to is the growing trend of networked devices. Vetting machines, CD juke boxes and other everyday electronic devices are likely to be connecting to the Internet within the next 3 to 5 years. These devices will have a slim OS, but able to carry-out basic network activities, like ping and HTTP GET command. The sheer amount of these network devices will be a problem if the OS is not hardened.

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