Uncertainty about the scope and implications of the cyber attacks rattles Wall Street investors.
FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
Hackers stepped up a three-day electronic assault Wednesday against some of the Web's most popular sites, inconveniencing millions of Internet users and deepening the mystery of the attackers' identities. The apparently coordinated campaign spread to ETrade, ZDNet and other flagship sites.
"We are committed in every way possible to tracking those who are responsible."
Attorney General Janet Reno
The growing anxiety about the Internet's vulnerability contributed to a broad selloff on Wall Street and even prompted efforts by top federal officials to reassure Americans that authorities were doing all in their power to combat the online vandalism.
"We are committed in every way possible to tracking those who are responsible," Attorney General Janet Reno, the nation's top law enforcer, said in a news conference in Washington.
She said the motives of the vandals are not known "but they appear to be intended to interfere with and disrupt legitimate electronic commerce."
Tulsa-area companies reported no problems. Tulsa-based Internet retail site BuyItNow.com is not taking any precautions in the wake of the hacker attacks, said Mark Koopmans, a systems manager at the company.
There's not much we can do to defend ourselves," he said. "It's the type of attack that, if it happens, it will slow down the site and create unnecessary traffic. It's mostly just a nuisance."
Tulsa-based SecureAgent.com owner Brent Johnson said he checked with some of his clients such as Southwestern Bell and Pacific Bell to see if there had been any hacker attempts. "All is cool and calm," he said.
Johnson said the actions this week bring up a new set of problems for companies since the Web sites were damaged by attacks conducted through outside computers that the hackers hacked into.
"Once somebody gets into your computer and does damage and then damages someone else's computer, it becomes a problem of the person who owns the computer that was initially hacked," Johnson said.
Hackers could face a maximum penalty of five to 10 years in jail and up to a $250,000 fine, or in some cases "twice the gross loss to the victim," said FBI cyber-security expert Ronald Dick. | The hacker technique, called a "denial of service attack," involves directing a flood of messages to computers that run Web sites and overrunning high-tech networks. The impact is comparable to erecting human barricades to block shoppers from entering a mall or unleashing a wave of calls to tie up a city's phone lines.
Uncertainty about the scope and implications of the cyberattacks rattled investors, contributing to a 258.44 point-slide in the Dow Jones industrial average and halting a string of three consecutive record-high closes of the technology-laden Nasdaq Composite Index.
In the latest attacks Wednesday, the ETrade online brokerage's Web site was hit, but "customer accounts were never compromised," spokesman Patrick Di Chiro said. Less than one-fifth of its customers were affected by the clogged traffic for about 90 minutes before the company blunted the attack, he said.
ZDNet.Com, a popular news site that covers technology, said its Web Site was shut down for two hours early Wednesday and "appeared to have been the target of a denial-of-service attack."
Microsoft Corp.'s MSN.com, another highly visited site, said it was indirectly affected because of the disruptions to several Internet service providers carrying its traffic. A relatively small proportion of users were unable to access Web pages and others, who subscribe to Microsoft's online service, may have been unable to log on, said Microsoft spokesman Tom Pilla.
Major sites that fell under attack Tuesday included those of eBay, Amazon, CNN and Buy.Com, all in unusually aggressive assaults similar to one that overwhelmed Yahoo! a day earlier.
Company shares that dropped sharply Wednesday included Yahoo!, down $13.63 a share at $362.63; ETrade, down $1.06 at $21.94, and Amazon, down $1.88 at $81.25.
While the timing of the attacks remained a mystery, some security experts noted they occurred around a three-day meeting of Internet service providers, in San Jose, Calif., which ended Tuesday. The keynote speech at the North American Network Operator's Group focused on denial of service attacks and was given Monday.
Hackers sometimes seek to garner publicity by timing attacks near symbolically important events.
Federal officials urged businesses to install protective software and take other security precautions. Meanwhile, sensitive government systems were being secured against attacks.
"Right now there is no sure-fire defense, but we are trying to take some steps," Commerce Secretary William Daley said.
"First we are taking special action to ensure that all federal systems, including civilian agency systems, and those of the Defense Department, are clean of these infections, which make some systems the unwitting partner in these attacks."
But some security experts said the flood of publicity encourage notoriety-hungry pranskters to become more aggressive.
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