According to new online security reports, a new breed on virtual troublemakers dispatch malignant code that tricks groups of machines into thinking they're part of a collective that then does nothing but send out countless numbers of these packs of data.
This technique is known as "distributed denial of service," or DDOS, and it can bring down websites, entire networks, and potentially even the machines that constitute the backbone of the Internet itself.
The report comes down from the security and tech firm Arbor Networks.
For perspective, the largest network connections typically deal with 10 gigabits of data, and DDOS attacks can hit a network with as many as 40 gigabits – easy outgunning an unsuspecting network.
Danny McPherson, Arbor Networks' chief security officer said that e-commerce sites have been a common target.
"Most enterprises are connected to the Internet with a one-gigabit connection or less," he said. "Even a two-gigabit DDOS attack will take them offline."
Arbor Networks representatives said that these kinds of attacks have been happening since 2006, and that despite their considerable power, the Internet isn't likely to crash anytime soon. AT&T Chief Security Officer Edward Amoroso said that his company's servers came equipped with large amounts of excess capacity just for these kinds of situations.
"We have a big shock absorber," he said. "It works, but it's not going to work if there's some Pearl Harbor event."
