DDoS - China's Cyberspace,
the New Industrial Revolution

China has described the rise of virtual worlds as the new 'industrial revolution'. Cyberspace is a massive commercial enterprise; as such protecting it from DDoS attacks will be a top priority.

A story on the BBC recently toyed with the idea that the appeal of virtual worlds could trigger an exodus of people seeking to escape from reality. Second Life has captured the imagination of futurologists. The notion that we could all move our lives into a virtual world sounds like an Orwellian nightmare or extreme science fiction story. But by 2011, it’s estimated that 80% of internet users and major businesses will have avatars – digital replicas for themselves. As more of our lives and our souls are given up to the internet, we will become increasingly vulnerable to cyber terrorism and distribution denial of service (DDoS) attacks.

China’s new industrial revolution, protecting from DDoS attacks
“Anyone who still thinks that virtual worlds such as MindArk's Entropia Universe or Second Life are the plaything of geeks should look at what is happening in China,” Victor Keegan wrote in The Guardian. “It is simply mind-boggling and, if it all comes off, has awesome implications for western economies.” The Beijing municipality is planning a virtual world for around 150 million avatars. China has such faith in the virtual future it views it as the next equivalent to the industrial revolution. But a bigger online economy and industry means one thing – it will only become a bigger target for industrial sabotage and DDoS attacks.

DDoS Defence, preparing for cyber crime
According to scientists at the Beijing Cyber Recreation District project, nine similar virtual universes are in the pipeline that could support billions of avatars. “The sky is no longer the limit” wrote Keegan. China could revolutionize economies and manufacturing by allowing consumers in the West to go online, wander around the virtual world and buy directly from the Chinese. Remarkably the Chinese plans will have ability to turn this virtual universe into a ‘one-stop shop for consumers and producers’. The massive scale will attract DDoS hackers and a host of wannabe cyber criminals.

The future of manufacturing and commerce
“If it were anyone but China planning this you would take it with a pinch of salt,” wrote Keenan. “But … it is the world's biggest manufacturing country pitching to lead the next stage of development as the internet moves into three dimensions.” When Keenan asked one of the professors from the Beijing Cyber Recreation District whether the coming of virtual worlds would be on a scale commensurate with the industrial revolution, he told him: "It will be faster, bigger, more like an explosion." This means DDoS protection will become a top priority as the economic power online grows to epic proportions.

Cyber crime online – the DDoS threat
Hacking and DDoS attacks impact directly on individuals and business. The Swedish virtual world Entropia Universe had an annual turnover of $365m in 2006, proving that the virtual world means big bucks. And it’s only going to get bigger.

Webscreen is an IT network security technology that is designed to protect Web servers and other network appliances from a distributed denial of service attack (DDoS). A DDoS attack is a deliberate attempt (malicious) to stop a Web site from working by flooding it with thousands or simultaneous connections. This is usually done for financial gain but can be for political or commercial reasons. Webscreen's unique Guarantee of Service (GoS) technology not only mitigates the impact of denial of service (DDoS) attacks but enables IT managers to maintain access for critical users and priority customers during any high level network activity period. Including a range of network optimisation and monitoring tools, Webscreen helps deliver maximum performance from network infrastructure resources. Find out more, contact Webscreen call 0870 3890022