Krebs on Security saved by Google after one of the largest DDoS attacks in history

[midian182]

Security researcher Brian Krebs has been responsible for exposing some of the biggest hacks in recent history, the price of which is that his blog, Krebs on Security, has faced numerous DDoS attacks from angry hackers over the years. But the latest assault was so large that the site was offline for a week, and it took a helping hand from Google to get it back up.

The distributed denial-of-service attacks started two weeks after Krebs revealed that Israeli teenagers Yarden Bidani and Itay Huri were the alleged owners of vDOS, a “booter” service that people can use to carry out DDoS attacks against websites.

vDOS was said to be responsible for "a majority" of the DDoS attacks that had been clogging up the internet over the past few years, earning the pair $618,000 in the process.

Following the report, Krebs on Security was targeted by one of the largest DDos attacks on record. The site was hit with 620 gigabits per second of junk data – almost twice the size of anything it previously had to fend off.

While the attack didn’t bring down the site, Krebs’ hosting provider, Akamai Technologies, was forced to order Krebs on Security off the network. Along with DDoS protection firm Prolexic, it had been offering Krebs pro bono protection from attacks for years, but the size of this DDoS meant it couldn’t keep on doing so without the financial impact affecting other customers.

"I can't really fault Akamai for their decision," Krebs said. "I likely cost them a ton of money today."

The good news is that Krebs on Security is now back online, thanks to Google’s free Project Shield program. The company provides the DDoS attack mitigation service to verified journalists and non-profit organizations.

"A number of other providers offered to help, but it was clear that they did not have the muscle to be able to withstand such massive attacks," Krebs added.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/66452-krebs-security-saved-google-after-one-largest-ddos.html

 

[psycros]

People who run DDOS services and hacking collectives are where online law enforcement should focus most of its efforts. How much money is *really* lost to pirates who would never have paid for a game or movie in the first place? Granted, a lot of malware probably gets distributed via cracked software, but there is a ton of legit-looking stuff out there that's riddled with it as well.

 

[Ranger1st]

US won't got after Israel... it's Obama's darling.

 

[Row1]

The two have been arrested:
http://www.timesofisrael.com/2-israelis-arrested-for-major-hacking-operation-after-fbi-tip-off/

 

[Coodu]

People who run DDOS services and hacking collectives are where online law enforcement should focus most of its efforts. How much money is *really* lost to pirates who would never have paid for a game or movie in the first place? Granted, a lot of malware probably gets distributed via cracked software, but there is a ton of legit-looking stuff out there that's riddled with it as well.

Huh? Krebs was able to expose the two owners of the vDOS package, and it looks like they've now been arrested. I'd say that's not bad work. No talk of pirates here, apart from the obvious "I downloaded cracked software and now I'm part of a DDoS botnet...

 

[Evernessince]

People who run DDOS services and hacking collectives are where online law enforcement should focus most of its efforts. How much money is *really* lost to pirates who would never have paid for a game or movie in the first place? Granted, a lot of malware probably gets distributed via cracked software, but there is a ton of legit-looking stuff out there that's riddled with it as well.

Huh? Krebs was able to expose the two owners of the vDOS package, and it looks like they've now been arrested. I'd say that's not bad work. No talk of pirates here, apart from the obvious "I downloaded cracked software and now I'm part of a DDoS botnet...

He was just providing an example of another internet crime, not citing something from the article. I'd have to agree that torrenting should be the lowest on authorities to do lists. There's not really victim when someone downloads a file via torrent. Companies can claim they are losing revenue to torrent downloads but then again there is significant evidence showing that as the number of torrent downloads increase so do the sales. The Witcher 3 and Game of Thrones are both examples of this. There are a few that buck this trend, like for example certain games, as a form of protest to crappy business practices. You can also take a look at recent games with strong DRM, like the new Tomb Raider, and see that sales were disappointing despite the game being well made. In advance of anyone calling me a pirate, I am not advocating piracy. You should always pay for what you use. On that note, region and platform locker are both dumb AF. It's like buying a chair and only being able to use it in one corner of the room and only in your current apartment.

 

[Puiu]

What I love most are those DDOS stories where the internet tries to fight against evil organisation or governments that did something stupid.
Unfortunately most DDOS attacks are stupid in nature and do only harm.