NEXT GENERATION SECURITY CHALLENGES HIGHLIGHT MASSIVE VULNERABILITY OF INTERNET
2006-01-19
PacketExchange, one of the UK‘s leading Internet technology firms, has issued a grim warning to major ISPs and content providers, that unless they do more to understand and embrace approaches to stem the growing number of online denial-of-service (DDOS) attacks, then the very future of the Internet as a business tool will fall into jeopardy.
The comments of the company which provides private Internet solutions to organisations of the calibre of Yahoo! and Google, come at a time when reports of online blackmail attempts and digital terrorism are at an all time high.
Managing such a scenario depends on having an in-depth understanding of the way a targeted company is connected to the Internet. If the nature of connections is fully understood, then any company or individual with a high profile website stands a greater chance of being able to work with a service provider and use intelligent software to either block the attack or stay online using alternate connections whilst the problem is resolved.
PacketExchange CEO, Kieron O‘Brien explains:
“When faced with a DDOS attack or other form of online security breach, many technology companies find that they are more aware of the problem and its origins than their upstream service provider. Factors such as these really call into question the durability of the Internet as a business tool and point to the need for much improved understanding of the nature of the threat we face from online extortionists amongst all stakeholders in the Internet community.
PacketExchange‘s business model makes use of a global, private network, to offer service users an alternative Internet with the ability to bypass the mounting traffic delays and security threats which exist on the ‘public‘ Internet. Known as ProXimity, the network offers a means for businesses to ‘peer‘ or connect directly with each other to overcome many of the performance limitations of the Internet, which herald from its origins as an expanded University, inter-campus communications tool. The company offers one of the only global models which can used to terminate connections and most importantly, isolate a DDOS attack.
