Digital Common Sense

April 25, BBC News (UK) — Survey: Web server attacks ‘growing fast’. A survey by Zone−H revealed that web server attacks and Website defacements grew by 36% during 2004 when almost 400,000 incidents were recorded. The attacks include 49 separate sorties against U.S. military servers and huge numbers of Website defacements. The figures were collated by Zone−H , a web−based organization that uses a world−wide network of volunteers to spot and investigate web server attacks and site defacements. “Defacement is just one option for an attacker,” said Roberto Preatoni, Zone−H coordinator. “In most circumstances the techniques used by defacers are the same techniques used by serious criminals to cause more serious damage.” The report found that more than half of all attacks and defacements, 55%, succeeded by exploiting a known bug or vulnerability or an administration mistake. The figures show that the many incidents occur on the anniversaries (mid−March) of the start of the most recent war in Iraq when both pro−Muslim and pro−American groups defaced sites. The survey also found that the long holidays around Christmas provoke a spike in attacks and incidents. The frequency of attacks also dips around the time that schools re−open suggesting that many teenagers are behind the defacements.
Survey: http://www.zone−h.com/news/read/id=4457/
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4480689.stm

Filed by Ken at 1:43 pm under General