Pastimes
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Hack Attacks - The end of internet innocence?
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| An SI Board Since February 2000 |
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Over the past few days, coordinated, distributed hack attacks have reportedly been carried-out on Yahoo, buy.com, eBay, amazon.com, and now (hitting closer to home) eTrade.
Is this the end of Internet innocence? Is the house of cards about to crumble? Many observers have been amazed that the Internet has held-up as well as it has - it's based on an infrastructure that is aging and that, despite it's military underpinnings, was designed around the premise that everybody is going to play nice.
What are the implications for those companies that are dependant on the Internet to become a pervasive part of everyday life? What is the impact on the "new economy?" Can we move to an Internet-based economy while the potential exists for a group of hackers (or perhaps a single one, through the use of distributed virus software) can bring it to it's knees at any time?
Of more direct impact to investors and traders, is it now prudent to reduce risks by choosing a smaller broker, less likely to be attacked? (But what of the ISPs and backbones that are necessary glue? Are they the next victims?) Do we need to make that much more sure now that our broker has adequate telephone backup?
Or am I playing into the paranoia that is precisely what these hackers are probably trying to create?
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