Government Technology - December 2007 - (Page 32) security j j Synopsis: New York state battles cyberattacks by monitoring the dark space of the Internet. state local federal Spaces Dark Agency: U.S.-CERT, New York State Office of Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructure Coordination. BY CHANDLER HARRIS | CONTRIBUTING WRITER hen computer hackers attacked Estonia earlier this year — shutting down numerous Web sites connected to the country’s electronic infrastructure, including government, commercial banks, media outlets and name servers — the event was nothing new in the world of cyber-security. Since the mid-1990s, denial-of-service (DoS) attacks — generally a computer assault that floods a network or Web site with unnecessary traffic, rendering it slow or completely interrupted — have caused serious problems for the Internet. DoS attacks are often waged by “botnets,” which are a series of computers that have been hijacked by viruses and take part in attacks without their owners’ knowledge. Attackers often launch attacks from unallocated IP addresses so the assailants can’t be found. The attack on Estonia has been called “cyberwarfare” and the first time botnets threatened the security of an entire nation. Over the years, similar attacks have closed some of the largest e-commerce companies such as Amazon.com, eBay and Buy.com, as well as federal and state government Web sites. With an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 DoS attacks daily worldwide, large corporations, small Web-based businesses and governments have been forced to take precautions to defend against DoS attacks or face costly shut downs and/or the demands of “cyberextortionists,” a new breed of Internet criminal who demand payment in exchange for not launching a DoS attack. W Dark Address Space In 2003, the federal government established the U.S. Computer Emergency Response Team (U.S.-CERT), an arm of the Department of Homeland Security that protects the nation’s public and private Internet infrastructure, in response to DoS and other harmful cyberattacks. To help prevent DoS attacks, or at least warn private and public sectors of impending attacks, U.S.-CERT uses its Einstein program to monitor federal network “dark address space” on the Internet. Dark address space, DEC_07 Monitoring unallocated Internet addresses reveals potential DoS attacks. 32 http://www.govtech.com
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Government Technology - December 2007 Government Technology - December 2007 Contents Point of View Big Picture Profile The Last Mile GT Spectrum Well...How Did We Get Here? Dark Spaces A Paler Shade of Green? Decertification Dilemma Game On Two Cents Products Signal:Noise Government Technology - December 2007 Government Technology - December 2007 - Government Technology - December 2007 (Page 1) Government Technology - December 2007 - Government Technology - December 2007 (Page 2) Government Technology - December 2007 - Government Technology - December 2007 (Page 3) Government Technology - December 2007 - Contents (Page 4) Government Technology - December 2007 - Contents (Page 5) Government Technology - December 2007 - Point of View (Page 6) Government Technology - December 2007 - Point of View (Page 7) Government Technology - December 2007 - Big Picture (Page 8) Government Technology - December 2007 - Big Picture (Page 9) Government Technology - December 2007 - Profile (Page 10) Government Technology - December 2007 - Profile (Page RH1) Government Technology - December 2007 - Profile (Page RH2) Government Technology - December 2007 - Profile (Page 11) Government Technology - December 2007 - The Last Mile (Page 12) Government Technology - December 2007 - The Last Mile (Page 13) Government Technology - December 2007 - GT Spectrum (Page 14) Government Technology - December 2007 - GT Spectrum (Page 15) Government Technology - December 2007 - Well...How Did We Get Here? (Page 16) Government Technology - December 2007 - Well...How Did We Get Here? (Page 17) Government Technology - December 2007 - Well...How Did We Get Here? (Page 18) Government Technology - December 2007 - Well...How Did We Get Here? (Page 19) Government Technology - December 2007 - Well...How Did We Get Here? (Page 20) Government Technology - December 2007 - Well...How Did We Get Here? (Page 21) Government Technology - December 2007 - Well...How Did We Get Here? (Page 22) Government Technology - December 2007 - Well...How Did We Get Here? (Page 23) Government Technology - December 2007 - Well...How Did We Get Here? (Page 24) Government Technology - December 2007 - Well...How Did We Get Here? (Page 25) Government Technology - December 2007 - Well...How Did We Get Here? (Page 26) Government Technology - December 2007 - Well...How Did We Get Here? (Page 27) Government Technology - December 2007 - Well...How Did We Get Here? (Page 28) Government Technology - December 2007 - Well...How Did We Get Here? (Page 29) Government Technology - December 2007 - Well...How Did We Get Here? (Page 30) Government Technology - December 2007 - Well...How Did We Get Here? (Page 31) Government Technology - December 2007 - Dark Spaces (Page 32) Government Technology - December 2007 - Dark Spaces (Page 33) Government Technology - December 2007 - Dark Spaces (Page 34) Government Technology - December 2007 - Dark Spaces (Page 35) Government Technology - December 2007 - Dark Spaces (Page 36) Government Technology - December 2007 - Dark Spaces (Page 37) Government Technology - December 2007 - Dark Spaces (Page 38) Government Technology - December 2007 - Dark Spaces (Page 39) Government Technology - December 2007 - Dark Spaces (Page 40) Government Technology - December 2007 - Dark Spaces (Page 41) Government Technology - December 2007 - Dark Spaces (Page 42) Government Technology - December 2007 - Dark Spaces (Page 43) Government Technology - December 2007 - Dark Spaces (Page 44) Government Technology - December 2007 - Dark Spaces (Page 45) Government Technology - December 2007 - Dark Spaces (Page 46) Government Technology - December 2007 - Dark Spaces (Page 47) Government Technology - December 2007 - Dark Spaces (Page 48) Government Technology - December 2007 - Dark Spaces (Page 49) Government Technology - December 2007 - Dark Spaces (Page 50) Government Technology - December 2007 - Dark Spaces (Page 51) Government Technology - December 2007 - Dark Spaces (Page 52) Government Technology - December 2007 - Dark Spaces (Page 53) Government Technology - December 2007 - Dark Spaces (Page 54) Government Technology - December 2007 - Dark Spaces (Page 55) Government Technology - December 2007 - A Paler Shade of Green? (Page 56) Government Technology - December 2007 - A Paler Shade of Green? (Page 57) Government Technology - December 2007 - Decertification Dilemma (Page 58) Government Technology - December 2007 - Decertification Dilemma (Page 59) Government Technology - December 2007 - Game On (Page 60) Government Technology - December 2007 - Game On (Page 61) Government Technology - December 2007 - Two Cents (Page 62) Government Technology - December 2007 - Two Cents (Page 63) Government Technology - December 2007 - Products (Page 64) Government Technology - December 2007 - Products (Page 65) Government Technology - December 2007 - Signal:Noise (Page 66) Government Technology - December 2007 - Signal:Noise (Page 67) Government Technology - December 2007 - Signal:Noise (Page 68)
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