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[RC] AERC info available online again - Michael MaulThe ride results, points, history, calendar and so on are available again.Note this did not affect the AERC home page as it's hosted by a different supplier. For those who wondered what a DOS attack is - here's a note from our hosting site. This kind of thing is the reason why *all* windows users should use the windows update feature to make sure your computer cannot be used for these kinds of attacks. Mike ****************************************************** Yesterday evening we experienced the start of a massive Dos, or 'denial of service' attack. It was not due to a hardware failure of any kind. This type of attack occurs when a criminal has established a netBOT, which is an automated worm that has infected tens of thousands of personal computers around the planet. Each worm on each computer waits silently and un-noticed for an external 'trigger' command do be issued over the internet from the perp that is controlling these robots. When the command is issued (with the target instructions), each personal computer starts releasing a flood of response requests to the target, flooding the system and creating a massive bottleneck that results in a denial of service. We have sophisticated firewalls in place that detect activity of this nature, but the attack last night was of such magnitude that it overwhelmed our system regardless. Although we have seen this type of attack several years ago, we have never seen anything on such a massive scale - it was unprecedented. We do not have any way of knowing which client was targeted, or if it was a random attack, or a kid prankster, or a terrorist. This is an example of why it is so important to run anti-virus software on your PC, as most programs can detect this type of infection and prevent you from becoming part of the netBOT. We estimate at the peak of the attack there were over 100,000 different computers involved. We worked all night to block these sources and itappears we have finally succeeded as the system is now functional again. We apologize for any inconvenience, and hope that you can understand what we are up against. We will be immediately examining our firewall response to this attack, and please rest assured that we will takewhatever steps are necessary to block further intrusions. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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