Internet Security--A Plan of Attack

Still, many of the news reports were more sensational than they needed to be. The recent attacks, while frustrating for e-commerce customers, did not actually damage computers, destroy data or compromise confidential files.

In fact, in the recent "denial of service" (DOS) cases, the only computers actually broken into were obscure collegiate computers, which were then used to tie up the e-commerce sites by sending thousands upon thousands of messages to them. It's a bit like somebody using a stolen calling card to call your customer service department, only to hang up, over and over again. The distraction would prevent your staffers from attending to legitimate customers, but it would not injure your employees or damage your equipment.