I didn't read all the posts, so please excuse if this has been discussed. I'm not a big ebay user, but do check it out from time to time. Noticed the problem of late, and read they're calling it an upgrade glitch. I won't delve into that but will provide an interesting possibility...
The failure mode that was exhibited mirrors that of what's called a denial of service attack, specifically a SYN attack. For the record, SYN attacks cannot be prevented -- it is an inherent vulnerability of the TCP/IP protocol.
Quite a risk for these high-flyers that do 100% of their business over the Internet, eh?
If you were EBay, and got SYN-ed, what would you tell the "public"? Certainly not that this risk exists and could materially impact business. You'd say, oh maybe, there was a bug in one of your "feature enhancing" upgrades??
Anyway, I don't want to suggest they'd lie about it. My cynical mind just started spinning its wheels...
Anyway, has anyone discussed this? What are your opinions?
P.S. I should add that I do not currently, and never have, owned an interest in this stock or any other Internet play. Wouldn't touch 'em with a 10 ft pole either. |
