PC Mag Editor Lance Ulanoff writes about who killed Twitter. The answer is that we are the ones killing it through a DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack.
The DDoS problem is a whale of a different color, however. All you people who I’ve warned over and over again to install or update your security software, everyone who can’t stop visiting HotSexyLibrarians.com or downloading music and movies from Igotyourfiles.com, and all those noobs who insist on opening every single e-mail attachment they get—you did this. You and your zombie PCs are to blame.
Many of the news reports I read yesterday used the phrase “denial of service attack” and then the acronym “DDoS.” So, what’s the extra “D” mean? Turns out it stands for “distributed,” which, in this case, means the attack does not originate from one place. Instead, it comes from millions of places. Put simply, a denial of service attack is not come from one big server somewhere in Russia, China, or North Korea that attacks a commercial enterprise’s servers here in the U.S. or elsewhere in the world. If it was, companies could find it easier to block, or at least stop, the attacks when they begin. A DDoS is different. Yes, it’s coordinated, but the coordination is spread across thousands, if not millions, of PCs around the world.
Yes, that’s right. It’s all our fault. All of us that are operating infected computers. Please be sure to update your software and run a strong antivirus program. There will always be someone out there writing malware, attempting to trick us into installing it. It’s up to us, however, to make sure that we have fully patched and protected computers. Let’s hope Twitter comes back soon. Be sure to take this offline time to patch your computer(s)!
