E-mail bombs: growing numbers of "denial-of-service attacks" are directed at schools.When Internet service in a Midwestern school district crashed because of e-mail bombs--huge numbers of duplicate messages blitzed blitzed adj. Slang Drunk or intoxicated. to target addresses to overload systems maliciously--the technology coordinator wanted to alert other districts to the growing potential for such assaults. E-mail bombs, also called "denial-of-service attacks," are easy for anyone to launch, and all schools are vulnerable, he says. While students and others may send e-mail bombs to district users as pranks, they can cripple e-mail accounts, chew up communications bandwidth and close down online applications for everyone. The added e-mail volume also makes it difficult to sort legitimate messages from those that are bogus, and squanders district time, money and resources. For example, Dan Brenner, assistant superintendent Assistant Superintendent, or Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), was a rank used by police forces in the British Empire. It was usually the lowest rank that could be held by a European officer, most of whom joined the police at this rank. of New York's Roslyn Public Schools says a recent denial of service attack An assault on a network that floods it with so many additional requests that regular traffic is either slowed or completely interrupted. Unlike a virus or worm, which can cause severe damage to databases, a denial of service attack interrupts network service for some period. slowed their online systems significantly, and "caused true heartache for the technical staff." Brenner says it took three long nights for the district technology expert Ed Salina Salina (səlī`nə), city (1990 pop. 42,303), seat of Saline co., central Kans., on the Smoky Hill River; founded 1858 by settlers opposed to slavery, inc. 1870. Jr. to correct the problems. But denial-of-service attacks can also be launched from within schools, as illustrated by a case in another New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of district, where an assistant principal used e-mail bombs to harass individuals and higher education higher education Study beyond the level of secondary education. Institutions of higher education include not only colleges and universities but also professional schools in such fields as law, theology, medicine, business, music, and art. institutions for a three-year period. His actions caused multiple systems to fail, and deprived thousands of students, faculty and other users of online access. Escalating Threats While most student denial-of-service attacks on schools have been practical jokes, the situation is escalating to dangerous levels. Perpetrators from around the world are using sophisticated online robots and banks of computers to barrage targets with messages. The identifies and motivations of these individuals are usually not known, but according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the VeriSign online security company, a flood of messages early this year blocked 1,500 major Web sites. There are also "how-to" denial-of-service tutorials on the Internet, and sites that urge the e-mail bombing of public figures. E-mail bombing is now deadly serious business threatening online communications in all areas of society, including schools. A recent example is the "Winning Notification" e-mail bomb sent to about 750 K-12 administrators and others in the education field, including me. The four-page message, which stated the recipient won a sweepstakes lottery in Thailand, hit each person 335 times in a 24-hour period, resulting in approximately 250,000 messages and a million pages of text polluting the Internet. Protecting Districts The e-mail bomb is becoming a common weapon of war against Internet hosts, being sent by spammers, con artists and others who seek to interfere with the Internet, and schools can be caught in the crossfire A multi-GPU interface from ATI for connecting two ATI display adapters together for faster graphics rendering on one monitor. CrossFire machines require PCI Express slots, a CrossFire-enabled motherboard and, depending on which models are used, either a pair of ATI Radeon adapters or one . It is therefore crucial that your computers are armed with up-to-date operating systems, spam and virus filters, and firewalls to reduce the risks. It is also important to alert service providers to try and block offending sites--as I did in the recent attack--and never reply to such messages, which only intensifies assaults. Districts also need acceptable use policies that explicitly prohibit the sending of e-mail bomb messages inside or outside the schools. The resources below offer useful district models and information for your staff and students. Odvard Egil Dyrli, dyrli@uconn.edu, is senior editor and emeritus professor of education at the University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut is the State of Connecticut's land-grant university. It was founded in 1881 and serves more than 27,000 students on its six campuses, including more than 9,000 graduate students in multiple programs. UConn's main campus is in Storrs, Connecticut. . RESOURCES Glenbrook High School District www.glenbrook.k12.il.us Palmdale School District The Palmdale School District is a school district that serves a major part of the city of Palmdale, California (USA). The Palmdale School District was first formed in 1888. Approximately 28,000 students are enrolled in the Palmdale School District. www.psd.k12.ca.us Wayland Public Schools www.wayland.k12.ma.us Network Ethics www.guhsd.net/ethics/ethics.html Spamhaus www.spamhaus.org Fight Spam on the Internet spam.abuse.net |
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