Posts Tagged ‘DoS/DDos attacks’
A New Tool for Censorship
I spent Friday, June 11 at Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society, where they hosted a roundtable discussion/workshop on denial of service attacks/distributed denial of service attacks (DoS/DDoS attacks).
It was a fascinating discussion about some of the methods that certain governments and other groups are using to suppress free expression around the world. Rather than (or in addition to) standard methods such as filtering/blocking websites, the sites are crippled, sometimes permanently, by coordinated external attacks, such as overwhelming the site with enormous quantities of communications requests. The discussion was informed by a diverse multi-stakeholder group. Participants included human rights activists and independent news platforms such as Irawaddy from Burma, The Caucasian Knot from Eastern Europe and Boxun News from China, as well as organizations that help to protect against DDos attacks such as Team Cymru.
For a description of Irawaddy’s experience with a DDoS attack, see this article from the Wall Street Journal.
The Berkman Center is building a map of DDoS attacks and is leading an effort to develop a set of response strategies that can be used by human rights and independent media sites that find themselves under attack, and Friday’s discussion will help to inform their final results. It was a fantastic learning opportunity, as well as a chance to find ways that Yahoo! and the BHRP can continue to address this issue on behalf of our users.
To learn more about this effort, contact the Berkman Center.
Open Net Initiative
- Access Contested: Security, Identity, and Resistance in Asian Cyberspace December 19, 2011Description from MIT Press: A daily battle for rights and freedoms in cyberspace is being waged in Asia. At the epicenter of this contest is China--home to the world's largest Internet population and what is perhaps the world's most advanced Internet censorship and surveillance regime in cyberspace. Resistance to China's Internet controls come […]rheacock
- All three of the @OpenNet Initiative books can now be found, free and open access, on a single site (via @jpalfrey) December 19, 2011[…]ashar
- Better Data for a Better Internet December 2, 2011The Berkman Center enthusiastically shares an article from Faculty Co-Directors John Palfrey and Jonathan Zittrain on "Better Data for a Better Internet," published in this month's edition of Science. The piece explores how current debates and discussions about Internet policy can be more effectively informed by better data and research method […]ashar
- Berkman Buzz: November 4, 2011 November 4, 2011A look at the past week's online Berkman conversations If you would like to receive the Buzz weekly via email, please sign up here. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * What's being discussed...take your pick or browse below. * Wendy Seltzer reports on last week's ICANN public meeting […]rheacock
- Berkman Buzz: August 12, 2011 August 12, 2011A look at the past week's online Berkman conversations If you would like to receive the Buzz weekly via email, please sign up here. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * What's being discussed...take your pick or browse below. * Dan Gillmor cautions against social media surveillance * The Op […]rheacock
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