Star Tribune cut from Web by 'denial of service' attack

By Steve Alexander, Star Tribune

Last update: August 23, 2007 - 10:49 PM

The Star Tribune was hit with a "denial of service" computer attack early Thursday that cut employees off from Web browsing and e-mail for about 10 hours. It also delayed updates to StarTribune.com.

In denial-of-service attacks, a corporate network is rendered inoperable by a flood of data from an outside source. The attack against the Star Tribune began at 3 a.m. Thursday, and service was restored about 1:30 p.m. when incoming network traffic was blocked by Onvoy Inc., the Star Tribune's Internet service provider.

While the source of the attack remains unknown, it worked by aiming large amounts of data at a single Star Tribune Internet Protocol (IP) address (each machine on a network has such an address, although this one wasn't in use). That effectively disrupted the entire company network, said Jim Prystal, a Star Tribune information technology manager. StarTribune.com continued to function because it runs on computers outside the company's network.

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