Cablevision's Internet Hit By Cyber Attack

News
Cablevision's Internet Hit By Cyber Attack
By Swanni

Washington, D.C. (December 1, 2011) -- Cablevision experienced a destructive cyber attack on its Internet service Tuesday night, but was able to fend off the assault by night's end, the company said yesterday.

The cable operator says the attack "caused a disruptive increase in automated requests on a portion of the network," which translates to some customers being unable to access websites for several hours. Cablevision has nearly three million Internet customers.

Cablevision told customers about a "Distributed Denial of Service' attack during Tuesday night. In a DDos attack, the attackers seize control of individual computers and force them to overload a company's web site web sites or e-mail addresses with data requests and spam respectively. The massive amount of traffic on the system can bring the Internet service to a halt or at least slow it considerably.

It's unknown why Cablevision was the target of the attack or who the attackers were. However, the cable operator notes in a press release that several technology companies have experienced similar attacks in recent months.

Cablevision says it's investigating the circumstances and causes of Tuesday's incident which did not affect the cable op's TV service.

What do you think? Offer your comments below!

blog comments powered by Disqus

Phillip Swann is president and publisher of TVPredictions.com. He has been quoted in dozens of publications and broadcast outlets, including CNN, Fox News, Inside Edition, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Financial Times, The Associated Press and The Hollywood Reporter. He can be reached at swann@tvpredictions.com or at 703-505-3064.

Click TVPredictions.com to read more news and features on TV technology.

Daily E-Mail Newsletter!

Sign Up for Swanni Sez!
Delivered to your e-mail box.

* Email Address:

Swanni Sez has 10,000+ subscribers!___________________________________

Search TV Predictions