'Bazooka' attacks slowing Internet

March 28, 2013 09:12

The Internet may have been slowed by one of the largest cyber attacks ever seen, which targeted a European group that patrols the Web for spam, security experts said.

The attacks targeted Spamhaus, a Geneva-based volunteer group that publishes spam blacklists which are used by networks to filter out unwanted email, and led to cyberspace congestion which may have affected the overall Internet, according to Matthew Prince of the US security firm CloudFlare.

The attacks began last week, according to Spamhaus, after it placed on its blacklist the Dutch-based Web hosting site Cyberbunker, which claimed it was unfairly labeled as a haven for cybercrime and spam.

While the origin of the attacks has not been identified, some experts pointed the finger at Cyberbunker, possibly in coordination with Eastern European cyber-criminals.

CloudFlare, which was called for assistance by Spamhaus, said the attackers changed tactics after the first layer of protection was implemented last week.

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