Online now at Security Focus: Closing the Floodgates: DDoS Mitigation Technqiues - check it out.

To be on the receiving end of a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack is a nightmare scenario for any network administrator, security specialist or access provider. It begins instantly, without warning, and continues relentlessly: machines down, jammed bandwidth, overloaded routers. An effective, immediate response is often difficult and may depend on third parties, such as ISPs. With these challenges in mind, this article will explore some techniques that systems administrators and security professionals can employ should they ever find themselves in this rather undesirable situation.

posted by mt at 14:03

The NYTimes discusses how the new Leonardo DiCaprio movie depicts an early hacker, in a social engineering sense.
posted by mt at 14:05

Hope everyone had a nice break - but the holidays are over. An interesting read to ease us back into the swing of things. Perhaps the most interesting tidbit from this opinion piece is that Mitnick is looking to co-produce movies on computer security. That might be the most boring thing ever recorded on film. I can't imagine it...

But something worries me about Mitnick's situation if I think about it for more than a few moments. His highly publicized case makes it look like hackers are getting caught. The specter of this hacking virtuoso sent off to the big house makes it seem as if there's an effective cybercrime-fighting force in the United States.

posted by mt at 14:02