The internet
around the globe has been slowed down in what security experts are
describing as the biggest cyber-attack of its kind in history.
“Based on the reported scale of the
attack, which was evaluated at 300 Gigabits per second, we can confirm
that this is one of the largest DDoS operations to date,” online
security firm Kaspersky Lab said in a statement, “There may be further
disruptions on a larger scale as the attack escalates.”
It is having an impact on popular
services like Netflix – and experts worry it could escalate to affect
banking and email systems.
Spamhaus, a group based in both London
and Geneva, is a non-profit organisation that aims to help email
providers filter out spam and other unwanted content.
To do this, the group maintains a number of blocklists – a database of servers known to be being used for malicious purposes.
Recently, Spamhaus blocked servers
maintained by Cyberbunker, a Dutch web host that states it will host
anything with the exception of child pornography or terrorism-related
material.
Spamhaus said it was able to cope as it has highly distributed infrastructure and technology in a number of countries.
