Huge internet attack – but stay calm

The web is awash with rumours that the “biggest attack ever” is taking place on key online infrastructure, slowing down websites across the globe.

While there have been reports of sites like Netflix being affected, Channel 4 News understands that many big networks have actually been functioning normally.

The slow down can apparently be traced back to a row between a spam-fighting organisation and a web hosting service which prides itself on having a “unique privacy policy” allowing some more controversial clients to remain online.

Spamhaus, a spam-fighting company which helps weed out unwanted email content, has apparently blacklisted Cyberbunker, a host which claims it will host any sites “except child porn and anything relating to terrorism”. Internet service provider A2B Internet has also apparently been blocked by Spamhaus for its links with Cyberbunker.

In retaliation, Spamhaus alleged to the BBC that Cyberbunker has been attacking its online infrastructure in what is known as a distributed denial of service attack (DDoS), in which the target is flooded with traffic in a bid to take it offline.

There are concerns that in particular circumstances the technology upon which the internet is based could become overwhelmed. Cyber expert Peter Sommer

While Spamhaus is fighting off the attacks at the moment, its team suggest that the battle is affecting the wider internet because of the sheer scale of the attacks. Reports suggested that five cyber-police forces are investigating.

However, some online security experts suggested that more evidence would be needed before assessing the actual impact of the online row.

Professor Peter Sommer, a visiting professor at De Montfort University’s cyber security centre, told Channel 4 News he was remaining “relatively calm” about the attacks.

“At the moment, we’re having to cope with unsubstantiated rumours and experience says that at least some of the time these attacks turn out to be less than thought,” he said.

He said it was possible that huge amounts of traffic could flood the internet and cause a slowdown – but cautioned that it was unlikely to last.

“There are concerns that in particular circumstances the technology upon which the internet is based could become overwhelmed,” he said.

“That happened many years ago with the first internet worm – a student tried an experiment which went wrong and that did slow things down. Since then, computer emergency responses have been set up, a lot of redundancy has been built into the internet. There could be a temporary slow down, but I would be surprised if we saw anything major. I am remaining relatively calm.”

Neither Spamhaus nor Cyberbunker had responded to Channel 4 News at the time of publishing this article.

Cybersecurity drive

The attacks come on the same day as the UK government unveiled its latest drive to try and protect critical infrastructure from the cyber threat.

It has set up a “fusion cell” where companies and the government can discuss hacking attacks in a high-security environment in an attempt to pool knowledge and resources.

“This is obviously the sort of place where members of the UK’s national critical infrastructure would be trying to evaluate the nature of this threat,” added Professor Sommer.