It looks like the distributed denial-of-service attack, once the favorite tactic of script kiddies and professional hackers alike, is coming back into favor. Attackers have been conducting an ongoing DDoS attack against the Federal Trade Commission’s main site, as well as some other government sites over the last few days.
According to a report by Robert McMillan, the attackers also have been going after other non-government sites.
According to my sources, who have been monitoring the attack that took down the FTC, the FAA, Treasury Department, the Department of Transportation and even the Secret Service have all been hit as well. To date, FTC.gov seems to be the only site that has crashed.
My sources also tell me that it would be wrong to think of this as an attack on U.S. Government sites alone. Some other big sites have been hit, in what may be a test of the attack.
DDoS attacks have been used for years for various reasons, ranging from settling disagreements between hacking crews to business competitors taking down each other’s sites. They’re favored by all levels of attackers for the simple reason that they’re easy to execute and are brutally effective. And with all of the botnets for sale or rent these days, aspiring DDoSers have plenty of resources at their disposal.
