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DDoS advice from US president’s IT expert

Help from George Bush’s computer security adviser on protecting your home network against a DDoS attack

You could join Britain’s front line of defence against a terrorist attack, without even leaving your home, by helping protect the West against a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. It’s a lot easier than you might think.

One of the most powerful tools a modern terrorist has at their disposal is your computer – and you might not even realise they were using it. But in the wrong hands, it could be a valuable weapon – or so says the man who advises George Bush on IT security issues like DDoS.

Your computer could be used in a DDoS attack
The Independent wasn’t exaggerating when it wrote in 2005 that, “The PC in your home could be part of a complex international terrorist network. Without you realising it, your computer could be helping to launder millions of pounds, attacking companies' websites [with a DDoS attack] or cracking confidential government codes.

The newspaper continued, “This is not the stuff of science fiction or a conspiracy theory from a paranoid mind, but a warning from one of the world’s most-respected experts on computer crime.

DDoS expert to President Bush
“Dr Peter Tippett is chief technology officer at Cybertrust, a US computer security company, and a senior adviser on the issue to President George Bush. His warning is stark: criminals and terrorists are hijacking home PCs over the internet, creating ‘bot’ computers to carry out illegal activities.”

Dr Tippett recommends people take the following steps to stop their computer being used in a DDoS attack:

• Watch out if your PC is running slower than usual. This could be because it is ‘owned’ by a cyber criminal or terrorist.
• Use a wireless router to connect to the internet. “By default, all routers will drop [up to] 97 per cent of attacks. They are more effective in preventing hijacks than a firewall or anti-virus software”, says Dr Tippett.
• Use a Mac. Less than 5 per cent of home computers are Macs, making them less of a target.

A Mac with a wireless router, according to Dr Tippett, is “like a PC with a safety belt and airbags”. In other words, and among other things, it cannot be used in a DDoS attack – an attack that you might have helped foil.

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