The National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU) has advised
businesses to ensure they have the technology in place to counter
attacks on their websites.
The warning came after high-profile distributed denial of
service attacks on the owner of Milliondollarhomepage.com last
week.
Alex Tew, the British student, and now millionaire, who owns the
website, was targeted by extortionists who threatened to bombard
his site with data unless he paid a ransom of £2,800.
A series of e-mails that followed increased the ransom to
£28,000.
An NHTCU spokesman said, "Companies that are hit by distributed
denial of service attacks should contact their internet service
provider for technical solutions to survive the attack.
"A lot can be put in place. Some solutions could result in a
degradation in service, but at least there would still be a
service. It is a trade-off between good security and good
business.
"If companies then also receive an extortion demand they should
report it to their local police force."
www.getsafeonline.org