Global Cyber News Bits, September 9, 2009 from CommunityDNS
Provided by CommunityDNS, the information in this post consists of news items in the security-based Internet community.
Microsoft, Cisco issue patches for newfangled DoS exploit
Server and networking firms have been working to handle a design flaw in TCP that will allow a DoS, or DDoS attacker from rendering an attack with a small number of attack computers and a small bandwidth requirement. The vulnerability allows a system, under attack, to maintain TCP connections for a long time; sometimes indefinitely. Internal buffer and memory resources will be consumed when a sufficient number of TCP connections have been made. Such an exploit could last even after the attacker has ended the attack.
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Websites ‘breaking consumer laws’
As the EU works to increase the confidence level regarding online shopping, through programs, for its citizens, 369 websites throughout the EU were tested for legal compliance. 203 of the websites tested contained misleading information for the consumer.
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New web filter laws questioned by top child abuse cop
As countries are looking to, in the process of testing, or have implemented filtering, the UK questions whether its filtering program should be made law. Used to filter out, or block access to sites containing child pornography, most of the UK’s ISPs are using the filter to block such sites from their customers. The reason for making this law is to make the smaller, or boutique ISPs use the filter. Such ISPs are refusing on the grounds that implementation would be too expensive for their operation. They also argue that the hard-core seekers of child pornography find information on private networks or peer-to-peer networks; networks the filter list does not filter out.
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Banned abortion site not blocked
Pressure and criticism continues to mount over Australia’s plan to roll out a national filtering system. The list would filter out sites that would include child sexual abuse imagery, bestiality, sexual violence, detailed instruction in crime, violence or drug use and/or material that advocates a terrorist act. As reported in previous News Bits this file has been voluntarily tested by several of the country’s largest ISPs.
At the request of an Internet user an abortion site was added to the country’s blacklist. It was found that Parliament computers could access sites contained within the country’s blacklist. It turns out Parliament was not using the country’s filter, but a separate filtering system provided by the filtering company, Websense, who does not follow the country’s blacklist, but one of their own.
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Filed under: Anycast, Australia, Block list, Community DNS, CommunityDNS, Cybersecurity, DDoS, Denial of Service Attacks, Distributed Denial of Services, DNS, DNS Resolution, DoS, EU, EU Commission, Filter, ISP, Security, UK | Leave a Comment
Tags: Anycast, Australia, Business Continuity, Business resilience, Cisco, Community DNS, CommunityDNS, Consumer Confidence, DDoS, Denial of Service, Distributed Denial of Service, DNS, DNS Resolution, DoS, EU, EU Commission, Filter, Global resolution, Internet, Microsoft, Online-Market, Resolution Service, Security, UK
