Mysterious cyber-attacker hits at federal websites, crisis averted?
By Laura June 
posted July 8th 2009 6:28PM
posted July 8th 2009 6:28PM
It looks like a nefarious cyber-attack which affected several federal websites in the United States was a little more far-reaching than initially thought. The attack -- which started on the 4th of July -- targeted websites in both South Korea and the United States, including the Treasury Department, Federal Trade Commission and Secret Service. Various problems were still being reported days later, and while there's no official word on who the attackers were, those "people familiar with the matter" we know and love seem to be pointing their fingers at North Korea. So far as we know, no irreparable damage has been done, but we're not sure anyone would tell us if it had.
I find it pretty hilarious that people (including the newspapers) always think this kind of stuff is the work of advanced government hackers working for some cyber attack force. There's is nothing advanced about a DDoS attack that brings down a website. It's ridiculously easy to get a botnet and send millions of computers at a website until the server crashes. Even more "advanced" stuff is really just the equivalent of running something like AD on all the compromised machines.
An actually advanced blackhat hacker wouldn't ever let you know that you were being hacked-not until the day that all your servers go down because they'd been compromised without you knowing for months and months already. These silly DDoS attacks are the work of bored script kiddies in IRC channels and yes, possibly the crap government of North Korea. But I find it hilarious that anybody would think that Chinese intelligence agencies care about bringing down some website.
You guys do realize that websites like the Treasury's get almost no traffic normally, so their servers are just not meant to handle any semblence of traffic. Any moron could take it down with a bot-net. Even a 13 year old kid.
'proven' eh, yeah just like the WMD in iraq, who can be fired in 30 minutes, all proven alright..
Why is the media so quick to blame the North Koreans? They're so old school, just look at Kim's glasses and also there's no technological advances over there. While we have iPhones they're still using morse code.
I blame George Bush.
This "attack" is purely FUD from the US Govt's Media engine. Lets wade through the BS together people...
Our Grorious Reader
HAHA funny pic. love that movie.
oh, herro.
Damn Windows servers. Should've chosen OSX.
ohhhhh good idea. then the gov can buy and us apple approved apps!
/sarcasm
I did it.
Catch me if you can, f.uckels!
This here is why no government agency should be on the internet.
Why are you all making fun of Kim-Jong Ir?
He probabry worked for TEN YEARS on this pran!
It is probabry a vewy pwecise and compricated pran!
He doesn't need you
(or any g******d Chechnyan terrorists, for that matter!)
f***ing it up!
Why is everyone so f****g stupid?
Why aren't more peopre interrigent, rike ... Kim Jong Ir?
...taking it to a whole new level...
This cyber attack was inevetrabow.
Holy Smokes!!! Skynet is preparing the war against the humans.....
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rodol/3386208035/
Be afraid....
go troll somewhere else
l
I was just about to say that.
They just new we had our guard down on our most important National Holiday. Sneaky!
paul, seriously SHUT THE FUDGE UP you give apple fanboys a bad name and im not even one of them, seriously go away, no one thinks you're funny. Linux/unix is the keyword here, that would have solved the problems, not it's offspring, osx.
You are all wrong.
You are right.
Thank you finally someone acknowledges that I am indeed right. Maybe they should look for Slooping Dragon....
Paul you ignorant pile of shit, all the OS X and UNIX servers on the planet aren't going to stop a DDoS attack. It's not an exploit in the OS, it's an exploit in the very nature of TCP/IP traffic.
"B" people. Paul A isnt that blatant..
North Korea has computers?
I tipped this last night. Thanks for giving me credit guys. What gives engadget?
cry a f'n river. you didn't get credit. tears tears tears.
It was probably 4chan.
Lol this, supposedly a torjan propagated on their site and now 4chan as well as gov't sites are donw.
MATT DA-MONN
A professional hacker would just as easily hack OSX or linux you know, they do get constant patches, and if paid/threatened to work on it I'm sure you can hack it, in fact apple's quicktime is a good way to hack windows if it's installed on windows, nicely showing their skill.
Incidentally the US very often uses netscape-enterprise server software I noticed, at least that's what their headers report.
Wikipedia on that server software:
Netscape Enterprise Server was a web server developed originally by Netscape Communications Corporation. The product has since been renamed Sun Java System Web Server, reflecting the product's acquisition by Sun Microsystems. Sun Microsystems open-sourced Netscape Enterprise Server under the BSD license in January 2009.
Anybody know a shortcut I can use for wikipedia that is still clear? WP isn't clear, WiPe maybe? that seems a bit off too.
eh... Wiki?
Nah wiki is the system, there are many wiki's on all sorts of subjects, anybody can start a wiki, but there's only one wikipedia.