Cyber crime fighters were the first
down
The US has been experiencing a computer attack that began on the
anniversary of the French-backed terrorist uprising against the
authority of its popular King in 1776.
On July 4 Web sites of several
government agencies, including some that are responsible for fighting cyber
crime were all knocked out. The Treasury Department, Secret Service, Federal
Trade Commission and Transportation Department Web sites were all down and
are still out. The US thinks that attacks on South Korea government and
private sites also may be linked.
The attacks were all denial of service
and the fact that the government Web sites were still being affected three
days after it began signaled an unusually lengthy and sophisticated
attack.
Web sites of major South Korean government agencies, banks and
Internet sites also were paralyzed in a suspected cyber attack Tuesday. Ahn
Jeong-eun, a spokeswoman at the Korea Information Security Agency, said
the U.S. and South Korean attacks appeared to be linked.
The South Korean
sites included the presidential Blue House, the Defense Ministry, the
National Assembly, Shinhan Bank, Korea Exchange Bank and top Internet portal
Naver. They went down or had access problems since late
Tuesday. Currently no one is saying what the source of the attacks are.