by d70Focus

In what seems to be a viscous attack that goes beyond normal war munitions, Russia has now launched what is being labeled as a "cyberattack" on Georgia, as Russian PC users are joining the forces that enable websites to launch computer attacks on Georgian websites. An article written on Digital Journal a few days ago explaining how Google was helping them get back online after hackers attacked website explained the seriousness of the problem. But now, regular people in front of their personal computers have been called to arms. As explained in an article in USA Today:

Several hours after Russia and Georgia began skirmishing over the disputed territory of South Ossetia on Aug. 8, a call to arms got posted on several pro-Russia online forums. Visitors were directed to a posting on the website stopgeorgia.ru, which listed Georgia government sites, including that of President Mikhail Saakashvili, as targets. Also posted: a software tool that emits a stream of nuisance requests from the user's PC to the targeted websites.

By clicking on the tool, "you volunteered to weaponize your PC and participate in a denial-of-service attack" on Georgia's Web pages, says Artem Dinaburg, a researcher at security firm Damballa. During such an attack, normal visitors to a Web page are denied access as it gets overwhelmed by nuisance requests.

So now Russian soldiers are no longer only militaristic men launching fiery bombs on brick and mortar buildings and other strategic targets. Private supporters of Russian can now join forces against Georgia without ever having to smell the gun powder. And according to the report, the more PC privates who enlist in the war on Georgia, the bigger the website list grows and the greater the attacks. As activists continue to click the nuisance tool, specific sites continue to receive the attacks. So whats the purpose of the cyber warfare? Its all about strategic vulnerability and giving Russia an edge. The attacks "interfere with critical services in a way that gives a military advantage" says Jim Lewis who is the senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Even the big hackers are enlisting in the forces, according to the article:

Russian cybercrime lords are also helping out by directing parts of their vast networks of compromised PCs, called botnets, to involuntarily join the attacks. On Friday, Damballa identified a few hundred botted PCs in the U.S. attacking pro-Georgia websites.

I guess this brings new meaning to the phrase "all out war".