However in the absence of any significant number of DOS reports directly to AusCERT, it is difficult to determine if these are the result of DDOS tools. We encourage any members requiring assistance to report activity to us and tell us how we can assist them. Some statistics are available for the United States' experience. A number of technologies have been used in the development of these tools. None of the concepts are new, although their association with these sorts of tools is.
All tools use encryption to varying degrees.
The algorithm varies depending upon the tool and the use. Encryption is used to hide information such as the list of agents used by a particular handler , and network communications between the client and handler . Anecdotal evidence from other organisations indicate that some handler systems control in the order of thousands of agents , judging by the size of the agent list. These agent lists allow amplification of potentially unbounded orders of magnitude, limited only by the number of systems the attacker can compromise. These tools are obviously undergoing active development.