June 5, 2006

Do not bow to cyber attacks!

The Million Dollar Homepage was attacked by a DDoS group demanding first $5,000 (before the attack) then $50,0000 (during the attack). Many people role over in this situation. More then a few small companies have been driven out of business trying to fight DDoS attacks and even large companies tend to just pay the demand as a cost of business issue. That has always bothered me. I've always felt that by paying these guys you are just enabling them to attack again and given them no reason not to.

However, where this story gets interesting is the kid that started The Million Dollar Homepage decided to fight back.

Regarding the attack on the site and the associated ransom demand, I'm happy to report that I did not pay a penny of the $50,000 that the perpetrators of this technological attack were after. I'm also happy to report the site is back online thanks to the great work of my hosting company, Sitelutions, and DDoS-prevention technology ProxyShield® provided courtesy of Gigeservers / DDoSprotection.com. Thanks guys, I appreciate your hard work in getting The Million Dollar Homepage back up and running again, after almost 6 days offline.

The companies who fight this kind of attack should be lauded and well compensated. GigeSERVERS and DDoS Protection were the companies who traded with The Million Dollar Homepage. However, there are others.

Not every one has stood up to DDoS attacks. Recently an aggressive anti-SPAM technology company, Blue Security, was taken out and folded due to DDoS and other online attacks. I was saddened by this statement:

"It's clear to us that [quitting] would be the only thing to prevent a full-scale cyber-war that we just don't have the authority to start," Reshef said.

Who has the authority? I don't see the US government actively or proactively engaging in stop this. At least this is clearly a threat to Americans and their well being.

Here is more info on the Blue Security issue.

For a good account of one of the first cases of standing up to the cyber-criminals: How a Bookmaker and a Whiz Kid Took On an Extortionist”and Won - CSOonline.com

Wired has a story on the Millon Pixel Homepage and Boing Boing was the first site that pointed me to the the Million Pixel DDoS story: Boing Boing: Million Dollar Homepage kid thwarts blackmailers

Posted by pqbon at June 5, 2006 5:36 PM