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Integralis Expert Resource Available to Discuss Twitter Denial of Service Attack and Web 2.0 Security

Posted on: Thursday, 6 August 2009, 13:16 CDT

EAST HARTFORD, Conn., Aug. 6 /PRNewswire/ --

WHAT:

Twitter was shut down Thursday morning August 6 due to a denial of service attack.

Eric Greenberg, Sr. VP of security and risk solutions at Integralis, can discuss:

- Why are Web 2.0 sites like Twitter targets for DDOS attacks?

Twitter is a communication platform that is more like a human brain than a simple website. Its users are within the brain and its neurons, or communication impulses, occur between users within Twitter. Twitter encourages this kind of far-ranging impulse any-to-any and many-to-many communication; it's what makes it Web 2.0. At the same time, it sets the groundwork for an "enemy within." Accounts within Twitter that are taken over, unknown to the users, that in a very difficult to detect manner are made to send messages through the neural social network in a way that is difficult to detect and stop. The very nature of Web 2.0 makes it prone to denial of service attacks.

- What can Web 2.0 sites do to protect themselves?

A new paradigm of trust in a web 2.0 world needs to be established. There is no sense of trust in web 2.0, instead it represents viral communication. Protection of accounts, trust that you know and understand who your connections are, and awareness that as an individual you are part of a powerful ecosystem is necessary. It's an education process, much like the one we had to build at Netscape with the public around using the web and security.

- What implications does this have for corporations that rely on Web 2.0 for reaching their customers?

It highlights the inherent risks and "differences" in Web 2.0 from conventional forms of communication, outreach, and protection. The rate at which a denial of service attack can occur is similar to the rate at which massive data leakage can also occur through twitter. Through this neural impulse network of any-to-any and many-to-many, we have set the stage for massive loss of personal information, corporate intellectual property, and government secrets by users not understanding the power or risk within Web 2.0.

About Eric Greenberg: Eric Greenberg, senior vice president security and risk solutions, Integralis Eric Greenberg has more than 25 years of groundbreaking Internet, security, and IT experience as an executive and consultant and is the author of two widely read books on information security and network application design. Highlights of Eric's career include his role at Netscape where he led their security group managing the deployment of a range of pioneering technologies including the one used for nearly all security on the Internet today, the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL/TLS) protocol. At a key time in the growth of the Internet, Eric wrote the business plan for Global SprintLink and as Director led the deployment of one of the largest international networks of its time. He also served as VP of IT Global Services at the Discovery Channel where he managed their worldwide IT infrastructure.

Web 2.0 Video Link: In "Managing Risk in a Web 2.0 World," http://blip.tv/file/2220564, Eric Greenberg, Sr. VP of security and risk solutions, Integralis, discusses the new risks, attacks and compliance challenges brought on by Web 2.0, as well the role of awareness, policies, tools and IT system design can have in mitigating these security risks.

SOURCE Integralis

Source: PR Newswire

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