REGARDING A NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE WITH LINK AND EXCERPT BELOW:
Issuse like the impact of major hacking attacks on web
traffic patterns, the impact on the finances of the companies whose sites
were hacked including whether or not these companies have insurance for
website outages and slowdowns caused by hacker attacts and the law
enforcement response to these illegal acts of vandalism are among the
issues that four New York Times articles consider. The four articles are
devoted to this computer hacking development with coverage given to
various aspects of the hacking that has occured at a number of very
important websites including eBay, Yahoo and CNET.
Sincerely,
David Dillard
Temple University
(215) 204-4584
jwne@astro.temple.edu
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Source: New York Times (NYT)
Author: MATT RICHTEL with JOEL BRINKLEY
Title: Spread of Attacks on Web Sites Is Slowing Traffic on the
Internet: Attorney General Says There Are No Solid Leads
Source Date: February 10, 2000
Resource Type: News Article
Description/Keywords: Portal Websites, Computer Hackers, Hacker
Attacks, Service Disruption, Internet Traffic, Impact, Criminal
Investigation, Problems
URL: Listed Below Article Summary
(Free Registration Required by the New York Times)
February 10, 2000
Spread of Attacks on Web Sites Is Slowing
Traffic on the Internet
Attorney General Says There Are No Solid Leads
By MATT RICHTEL with JOEL BRINKLEY
As anonymous assaults on major Web sites continued yesterday,
computer vandals crippled a large online brokerage operation and
a media site.
The Justice Department pledged to find
those responsible, but computer experts
questioned whether any defenses could
easily be deployed against the attacks.
On the third day of what increasingly
appeared to be a well-planned and tightly
coordinated siege by a single individual or
group, the impact of the attacks deepened.
In addition to damaging commerce at the
sites that have become targets, the attacks
slowed traffic in some portions of the
Internet.
In Washington, Attorney General Janet
Reno, while pledging a vigorous pursuit of
the those responsible, also acknowledged
that the attackers remained unknown to
authorities, having well covered their
electronic tracks.
Concerned e-commerce companies
across the Net, many of whose publicly
traded shares dropped in value yesterday
as investors tried to understand the
implications, began taking measures to
protect their Web sites from becoming
targets.
Even so, computer security experts said
the complex, anonymous nature of the
attacks made them difficult to trace or
stop.
Full Story May Be Read At:
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/02/biztech/articles/10web.html
Source: New York Times (NYT)
Author: JOHN MARKOFF
Title: The Strength of the Internet Proves to Be Its Weakness
Source Date: February 10, 2000
Resource Type: News Article
Description/Keywords: Computer Hackers, Hacker Attacks, Portal
Websites, Prevention, Website Protection, Measures/Techniques,
Implementation
URL: Listed Below Article Summary
February 10, 2000
NEWS ANALYSIS
The Strength of the Internet Proves to Be
Its Weakness
By JOHN MARKOFF
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 9 -- The Internet's greatest strength has
proved to be its most disturbing weakness.
As attackers let loose a barrage of data that overwhelmed some major
commercial Internet sites for a third day, the global network's
administrators scrambled today to find a way to protect it and trace the
culprits.
But the network's designers
acknowledged that the
attacks exploited the same
attributes of the Internet that
have made it one of the
world's most effective
engines for commercial and
technical innovation over the
last five years.
"This is a fundamental
consequence of an open
system," said Lawrence
Lessig, a Harvard law
professor who has written on
the Internet's social and legal
aspects.
Unlike recent episodes in
which Web sites were
defaced or credit card
records were taken from an
online music retailer, this
week's attacks have not
involved stolen or altered data.
Full Story May Be Read At:
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/02/biztech/articles/10net.html
Source: New York Times (NYT)
Author: MICHAEL BRICK and KEVIN MAX
Title: In the Wake of Web-Site Hacking, No Easy Answers, or
Solutions
Source Date: February 9, 2000
Resource Type: News Article
Description/Keywords: Computer Hackers, Hacker Attacks, Major Portal
Websites, Law Enforcement, Website Security, Difficulties,
Implementation/Progress
URL: Listed Below Article Summary
February 9, 2000
In the Wake of Web-Site Hacking, No Easy
Answers, or Solutions
By MICHAEL BRICK and KEVIN MAX
NYTimes.com/TheStreet.com, 7:46 p.m.
The ease, accessibility and convenience of the Internet has rapidly
changed the way Americans read, shop and invest. But a series of attacks
that disrupted several popular Web sites this week left even the
businesses that provide Internet service confused and raised more
questions than answers.
As the FBI confronts a long, laborious investigation, several
companies declined to discuss their security precautions in detail. Public
relations officials at other companies simply handed the telephone over to
their software engineers.
While hacking is not a new phenomenon, the denial-of-service attacks,
comparable to intentionally clogging a telephone line, drew more
widespread attention to online vulnerability than ever before.
Internet service providers began discussing ways to prevent the
problems, but no definitive plans had been made, said Secret Fenton, a
spokeswoman for Global Center, the Internet service provider that stores
the data of Yahoo! , the first Web site to be attacked this week.
Full Story May Be Read At:
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/02/biztech/articles/10attack.html
Source: New York Times (NYT)
Author: JOSEPH B. TREASTER
Title: Companies Won't Say if They Were Insured for Net Attacks
Source Date: February 10, 2000
Resource Type: News Article
Description/Keywords: Computer Hackers, Hacker Attacks, Major Portal
Websites, Insurance Coverage, Hacker Vandalism
URL: Listed Below Article Summary
February 10, 2000
Companies Won't Say if They Were
Insured for Net Attacks
By JOSEPH B. TREASTER
Yahoo, eBay and other companies whose Web sites came under
attack this week would not say yesterday whether they carried
insurance to cover their losses.
The few insurers that specialize in e-commerce often request that
clients not discuss specifics of the policies, which were developed over
the last couple of years, for fear of inviting attacks. The policies
protect against damages to systems and data and to losses suffered by
customers of the Internet companies.
But insurance experts say many of the biggest and best-known
companies do not have such coverage.
"The hot shots of the Internet are focused on their business models
getting venture capital money, getting their brand and their product out
there," said Emily Freeman, who is in charge of cybercoverage at the
Marsh & McLennan Companies, the insurance broker. "They're not
thinking about insurance -- risk management. "
Full Story May Be Read At:
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/02/biztech/articles/10insure.html
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