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10:50 a.m. 9.Feb.2000 PST
Hackers, who pride themselves on Web attacks with a purpose, are scornful of the “packet monkeys” responsible for this week’s attacks on Yahoo, CNN, and other high-profile sites.
The cracker or crackers responsible for the attacks have been contemptuously dubbed “packet monkeys” because their exploits involve flooding a site with packets of information and, detractors say, betray a distinctly simian intelligence.
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“There’s no technical prowess whatsoever in these kind of attacks,” said “Space Rogue,” a research scientist with @Stake (formerly the highly respected L0pht Heavy Industries) and editor of the Hacker News Network. “This isn’t anything new. This is old, tired technology someone is running in a big way.”
“This kind of thing is really frowned on,” said YTCracker, a 17-year-old high school student from Colorado, who recently claimed responsibility for cracking a number of U.S. government sites. “It’s a bunch of bored kids trying to show they have the guts to do this…. We don’t like to be associated with these people.”
No one has come forward to claim responsibility for the attacks.
Unlike a vandalized Web site, where the cracker usually leaves a moniker, says hi to his friends, or taunts law enforcement, a packet monkey attack leaves no public traces and no clue to the cracker’s identity.
Space Rogue said crackers typically advertise their exploits to gain acceptance with their peer group. In fact, this is frequently the motive for the attack.
“It makes you wonder what kind of person is pulling this off and why they’re doing this,” he said. “There’s no public record, no boasting, nothing left behind.”
Space Rogue said there is also very little gossip about the identity and motive of the attackers.
“Rumors are scarce on this one,” he said. “That’s unusual…. My gut feeling tells me it’s an individual and not a group, but I don’t have any evidence to back that up.”
Although most hackers condemn the attacks, at least one poster to Slashdot professed his “grudging admiration” for what appears to be a concerted demonstration against the commercialization of the Internet.
“This is the equivalent of a blockade — a formal, organized protest,” wrote “Swordgeek.” “Not throwing rocks through windows so much as linking arms in front of a police line.
“The brats and miscreants may have gotten their shit together and started to fight for something worthwhile, rather than simply for the hell of it.”