By Munir Kotadia, 1 December 2004 08:45
NEWS
Spammers are suspected of hacking into and downing Lycos's anti-spam website just hours after it went live. The website is currently inaccessible and could also be the victim of a DDoS attack.
Lycos on Tuesday kicked off its "make love not spam" campaign by offering users a screensaver that helps to launch distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on spammers' websites. The company said the screensaver uses the idle processing power of a computer to slow down the response times from spammers' websites - much in the same way spammers use compromised PCs to distribute unsolicited email messages.
However, within hours of the makelovenotspam.com site being launched, the original front page was replaced with a simple message:
"Yes, attacking spammers is wrong. You know this, you shouldn't be doing it. Your IP address and request have been logged and will be reported to your ISP for further action."
Finnish antivirus firm F-Secure, which advised users not to participate in Lycos's campaign because of "possible legal problems", suspects the site has been hacked by a pro-spam group because "they definitely would have a motive to attack the site".
F-Secure reported that the website had returned to normal by around 10pm (GMT) but at the time of writing makelovenotspam.com was unavailable and could be under a retaliatory DDoS attack.
Munir Kotadia writes for ZDNet Australia. ZDNet UK's Dan Ilett contributed to this report.
Comments
There are 10 comments. Join the discussion
1. Myron Quick
Well in any event, "Better to to battle with bytes rather than bullets".
But, do these actions comment on the nature of our species?
As usual, we have advanced human knowledge with new tools and then immediately found a mode to use it for hostility.
2. anonymous
It was not hacked. We upgraded the servers. Now its back online!
3. Daniel Gould
Maybe it's just as well that the site is down rather than compromised. Imagine if a hacker subverted the Lycos screen saver, using it for the very thing it's supposed to be working against. I think the whole thing is a bad idea - just another thing using up the limited bandwidth of the worldwide internet connections. Most spammers use free webspace and will simply move if they're forced off a service.
4. Terry Carlin
The black hats still have the upper hand then.
5. Goten Xiao
The main problem with spam is web hosts that don't care or have poor security. Tighten up software and incoming access (using something other than Microsoft Swiss Cheese Server 2003 would help), force free webhosts to keep a full IP log of all member access etc...
And I think people need to think about using antispam software like SpamAssassin on their mail servers, it's very effective and picks up 90%+ of the spam out there.
'Course, we wouldn't have this problem at all with a bit of user education on what is spam and what isn't (my dad's like this... He just opens his inbox and will click on anything, even if it's a blatant spam message).
6. anonymous
No surprise or loss, 2 wrongs don't make 1 right.
7. anonymous
The reports of hackers are incorrect. If you can't reach the site, stop and run some diagnostics on the route. Traceroute, in particular, and watch where it stops.
It's not hackers. It's ISP blackholes.
8. Aaron
Two wrongs sometimes do make a right!
The internet is a free resource and should remain so, but it is up to the greater individual to stop the threat from the small few. Im not a fan of vigilantism as it hurts people, but this is different something needs to be done and hiting spammers in the pocket is the only way to stop it . We dont want their tripe anymore sometimes you have to stand up for yourself thats what we tell kids who get bullied. Stand up for yourself and fight back, on the line of legality not over it.
9. Twiggy_31337
hacking and stuff is a way of life but the hackers who make spam and send out viruses intended for anyone who stumbles upon the should be shot... the world is being overrun with problems... lots of people go online to escape them but are bombarded with viruses and spam... its pretty bad how they keep going on with it too... so few people are ever fooled by spam ads and those who are usually have anti viruses and anti spyware so what is the spammers benefits?
10. anonymous
in reference to what twiggy (the above poster said) viruses hacking cracking spam, it all slides together somewhere not all are bad depending on what you are fighting for and you may think some people are dumb if they get infected by a virus or get adware / spam but it's not their fault they are uneducated. Overall i think this screensaver is a great thing it keeps users private info and habits from world-wide corporations who intrusively steal the information and just hide behind little things in agreements of software installations but thats not only ignorant because we all know alot of people dont read them because they are ignorant. It also has alot to do with the use of IExplorer exploits to install while you are online whether you went to the site that has "infected" you with their garbage or not you have to deal with it it makes a victim of us all.
I am pro lycos DDoS Screensaver. I'm just sad someone came up with the idea first *tear* :-D Go Lycos!