Serious Organized Crime Agency Suffers Distributed Denial-of-Service Attacks

Recently, U.K's Serious Organized Crime Agency (SOCA) suffered DDoS attacks

Albuquerque, NM (prHWY.com) June 21, 2011 - Albuquerque, NM, United States - Recently, U.K's Serious Organized Crime Agency (SOCA) suffered cyber-attacks forcing the agency to temporarily disable the website. Security professionals at SOCA are investigating the security incident. An external agency hosts the website of the counter crime agency, and does not contain any data related to operational activities. Investigations have detected the attacks as distributed denial-of-service (DDoS), which results in heavy traffic to the website. Lulz Sec has claimed responsibility for the latest attack. The attack follows a declaration by the cyber-attack group of joining hands with 'Anonymous' to launch a flood of attacks on government bodies, banks and financial institutions. The latest campaign named as 'Anti Sec' aims at extracting and disclosing classified government files, data and e-mails. The cyber-attack group had reportedly urged other groups to join the campaign, extract government information and deface the websites with the word 'Anti Sec'.

Cyber-attackers exploit vulnerabilities and gain remote access to thousands of computer systems. Attackers then use the affected computers to launch a barrage of requests on the target websites. The multiple requests result in high Internet traffic, causing the website to slow or shut down. The attack hampers the services offered to regular users of the site. Regular monitoring of the Internet traffic may help in identification suspicious activity and blocking concerned Internet Protocol (IP) addresses.

Recent attacks on government and corporate bodies have brought to light lapses in IT security practices. Attackers exploit the security gaps on websites to gain access to confidential databases containing business information and personally identifiable data related to customers. Exposure of sensitive customer information allows cybercriminals to perpetrate different types of fraud. Attackers may use the revealed corporate information to launch more sophisticated attacks on computer systems and networks.

Security professionals must make regular scrutiny of the network infrastructure. Regular evaluation would help in timely detection of security flaws, and initiation of mitigating measures. Professionals qualified in masters of security science and security certifications in may help in improvising the IT security policies and practices to deal with ever evolving security threats. Cyber-attacks result in disruption of business activities, impact productivity and have huge financial implications.

Proactive assessment of security threats is crucial to safeguard the IT infrastructure from barrage of threats initiated by cyber-attackers and activists. IT security professionals may leverage the online university degree programs to enhance their capabilities and know-how. E-learning and online degree programs help professionals to self-pace their training requirements and improve security measures in the organization.

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EC-Council
Website: http://www.eccuni.us
Email: iclass@eccouncil.org
Tel: 505-341-3228

EC-Council University is based in Albuquerque, New Mexico and offers Master of Security Science (MSS) degree to students from various backgrounds such as graduates, IT Professionals, and military students amongst several others. The MSS is offered as a 100% online degree program and allows EC-Council University to reach students from not only the United States, but from all around the world.

EC-Council is a member-based organization that certifies individuals in cybersecurity and e-commerce skills. It is the owner and developer of 16 security certifications, including Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), Computer Hacking Forensics Investigator (CHFI) and EC-Council Certified Security Analyst (ECSA)/License Penetration Tester (LPT). Its certificate programs are offered in over 60 countries around the world.

EC-Council has trained over 80,000 individuals and certified more than 30,000 members, through more than 450 training partners globally. These certifications are recognized worldwide and have received endorsements from various government agencies including the U.S. federal government via the Montgomery GI Bill, Department of Defense via DoD 8570.01-M, National Security Agency (NSA) and the Committee on National Security Systems (CNSS). EC-Council also operates the global series of Hacker Halted security conferences.

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Tag Words: u k, anti sec, anonymous, soca, ddos, cyber attack, security incident, lulz sec, remote access, ip address, internet, online degree

Categories: Internet

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