According to a statement released by CERT this morning, attacks against the site are common. This is just another attack. The lesson to be learned here is that no one is immune to these kinds of attacks. They cause operational problems, and it takes time to deal with them. A CERT official later added in a telephone interview that there has never been an attack this disruptive before.
CERT is a major reporting center for Internet security problems.
Staff members provide technical assistance and coordinate responses to security compromises, identify trends in intruder activity, work with other security experts to identify solutions to security problems and disseminate information to the community. CERT also analyzes product vulnerabilities, publishes technical documents and presents training courses. Computerworld Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Computerworld Inc. is prohibited.