Click here to receive your FREE subscription to Campus Technology
News
Storm Warning: Botnet Gearing Up To Attack Defenders
9/14/2007
The Storm worm, a massive botnet that its developers have been amassing over the last several months, is starting to attack computers that have been set up to defend against it. The botnet is set up to launch a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack against any computer that is scanning a network for vulnerabilities or malware, IW reported.The worm is now considered powerful enough to "easily" overpower the fastest supercomputers, IW reported.
REN-ISAC, a collaboration of higher-education security researchers based at Indiana University, last month issued a warning to about 200 of its member educational institutions and then put out a much broader alert, warning colleges and universities that their networks could come under heavy attack.
The warning noted that researchers have seen "numerous" Storm-related DDoS attacks recently. As the new school year gets underway, REN-ISAC is advising security professionals that the new attack "represents a significant risk" for the educational sector, REN-ISAC technical director Doug Pearson told IW.
When the scanner hits an infected computer that is part of the Storm botnet, the rest of the botnet directs a distributed denial of service attack back against the computer running the scan, Pearson said in an interview with IW. The attacks can last more than a day, and can involve "very significant" traffic.
"It's a new behavior for a botnet," said Pearson. "It's acting in a defensive manner. It is a little [scary], isn't it?"
Read More:
Paul McCloskey is a contributing editor for the Campus Technology group of publications.
Cite this Site
copy text (above) for proper citation
Recommended Reading
- Cedarville U Sets Up SonicWall Firewalls
Cedarville University in southwestern Ohio has implemented SonicWALL firewalls to provide high-speed gateway firewall protection for its 3,000 students.
- Data Breach Strikes U North Dakota Alumni Association
The alumni association for the University of North Dakota has gone public with a data breach that occurred when a laptop belonging to a software vendor was stolen from a vehicle. The computer contained the names of 84,000 university alumni, donors, and others, according to coverage by the Grand Forks Herald.
- Tips for Selecting a Campus CRM tool
As competition for students increases, colleges and universities are looking more and more to customer (or constituent) relationship management software for help in remaining competitive.
- Intercast Networks Goes into Beta with Kazam Video Service at Internet2 Universities
Intercast Networks has redesigned Kazam, its student Internet TV and video service based on the company's VideoXpress platform. Following a spring semester alpha trial at Columbia and Purdue University, the company redesigned Kazam's interface based on student feedback and added additional content that caters to a student audience.
- Michigan State Managing MRI Images from Africa with Acuo Tech DICOM Services Grid
Doctors at Michigan State University have begun using the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) Services Grid from Acuo Technologies to transport and manage magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) results from a hospital in Malawi, Africa in order to monitor the impact of malaria on children.
- IIT Delhi Delivers Services with Ingres Open Source
Administrators at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi) have gone public with their installation of open source database management software from Ingres. IIT Delhi, one of seven leading institutes of technology in India, adopted Ingres Database to support administration functions such as grading, finance, human resources, procurement, and hospital administration.
