DATE=2/11/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=INTERNET HACKING PREVENTION (L-O)
NUMBER=259084
BYLINE=ALISHA RYU
DATELINE=LOS ANGELES
CONTENT=



Intro:   Alarmed by this week's massive hacker attacks 
on some of the world's leading Web sites, many 
companies in the United States are racing to 
strengthen computer security, installing new software 
and training special technicians.  But as V-O-A's 
Alisha Ryu reports from our West Coast Bureau, even 
these measures may not be enough to stop future 
attacks.


Text:  After a three-day hacker spree that briefly 
downed such popular Web sites as Yahoo!, CNN, e-Bay, 
and E-Trade, companies across the United States say 
they are taking steps to make sure their computer 
systems are never compromised again.

Yahoo!, whose site was shut down by hackers for 
several hours on Monday, says it has installed special 
filters that will monitor Internet traffic and weed 
out suspicious requests.  The Internet service 
provider company, Prodigy, says it is training up to 
100 technicians to detect unusual subscriber 
activities.

But Internet security experts are not convinced that 
companies alone can stop attacks on electronic 
commerce.  Ira Winkler is president of Internet 
Security Advisors Group.

            // First Winkler Act //

      Being a victim of this attack does not mean they 
      have poor security.  It just means they are a 
      visible target.  What is enabling these attacks 
      is the poor security of hundreds of systems 
      around the Internet.  The computers that are 
      being used to attack, I guess they are being 
      referred to as "zombie" computers, are the ones 
      demonstrating poor administration.


            // End Act //

Experts believe hackers are using these "zombie" 
computers, usually unsecured computers belonging to 
companies or universities, to secretly install their 
attack software.  The hackers then instruct these 
computers to bombard a Web site with service requests 
and overwhelm its capacity.
  
Mr. Winkler says any unsecure computer can potentially 
become a "zombie" computer.   He says preventing cyber 
attacks must be a cooperative effort.

            // Second Winkler Act //

      If people who maintain those systems could have 
      better intrusion detection, better proactive 
      security measures and watch for misuse of their 
      networks, they could prevent these attacks.


            // End Act //

Space Rogue, a research scientist at the Internet 
security company At Stake-dot-com, agrees taking 
preventive measures is the best way to fight hacking.  
But he worries that message may not reach everyone.    

            // Rogue Act //

      It is going to be interesting to see how these 
      preventive measures are going to be included as 
      we go forward.  Nobody wants a slow Web page.  
      When we start applying these filters and routers 
      and start figuring out where things are going, 
      all that stuff takes time to do.  If one company 
      puts them in and they are one second slower but 
      their competitor doesn't put them in and their 
      pages are not slower, the consumer is going to 
      go to the faster person.  So, it is hard to say 
      what is going to happen here.

 
            // End Act //

Both experts believe as long as there are unsecured 
computers in the world, company Web sites will remain 
vulnerable to hackers for the foreseeable future.  
(Signed)

   
  
NEB/PT
     



11-Feb-2000 19:50 PM EDT (12-Feb-2000 0050 UTC)
NNNN

Source: Voice of America
.