Albuquerque, NM -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/22/2011 -- Recently, a popular and independent Malaysian online news portal suffered cyber-attacks. Attackers launched sustained attacks on Malaysiakini.com, virtually shutting down main servers hosted at two different data centers of the company in Kuala Lumpur. Information security professionals of the organization have identified the attacks as distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack and are trying to restore the website. The cyber-attack on the news portal follows a similar attack on another website sarawakreport.org. The attacks come just days before scheduled elections in the Malaysian state of Sarawak. Sarawakreport.org was openly critical of the Chief Minister of the state for allegedly amassing disproportionate wealth.

DDoS attacks on news portals and other websites have become common. Earlier, two popular Russian media and blog sites were targeted with DDoS attacks. Some months back, Anonymous group launched attack on many websites in retaliation to their hostile attitude towards WikiLeaks.

Attackers take remote control of thousands of vulnerable computers, without user's knowledge. The compromised computers are then commanded to attack the targeted resource. Simultaneous requests from thousands of computers exhaust the resources of the server and make it impossible for the targeted website to deliver intended services to legitimate users of the site. DDoS attacks essentially, overload the server with multiple and concurrent requests. Meanwhile, Malaysiakini is publishing the news on blogs, social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

Organizations should continuously monitor web traffic to identify any unusual activity. Professionals qualified in IT masters degree and secured programming may help organizations in mitigating threat vectors and implementing IT security policy.

Persistent Internet based threats have made it necessary for IT professionals to update themselves on latest monitoring mechanisms, data protection techniques and intrusion prevention systems by undertaking online technology degree programs.

Cyber security education is crucial to create safe IT environment. Security blogs, e-tutorials, online computer degree programs may help individuals in understanding and implementing safe online computing practices. Users can safeguard their computers from being compromised by installing and updating anti-virus programs. Installation of firewalls could help users in restricting malicious traffic. Users must be careful in disclosing their e-mail address. They must avoid arbitrary disclosure of e-mail addresses to avoid receiving spam and unsolicited e-mails. Users may use filters provided by e-mail service providers to reduce spam e-mails. They must resist from following links in e-mails from unknown sources. They must adhere to the security updates from vendors to safeguard their computers from malicious attacks.

About EC-Council
EC-Council University is based in Albuquerque, New Mexico and offers Master of Security Science (MSS) degree to students from various backgrounds such as graduates, IT Professionals, and military students amongst several others. The MSS is offered as a 100% online degree program and allows EC-Council University to reach students from not only the United States, but from all around the world.

EC-Council is a member-based organization that certifies individuals in cybersecurity and e-commerce skills. It is the owner and developer of 16 security certifications, including Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), Computer Hacking Forensics Investigator (CHFI) and EC-Council Certified Security Analyst (ECSA)/License Penetration Tester (LPT). Its certificate programs are offered in over 60 countries around the world.

EC-Council has trained over 80,000 individuals and certified more than 30,000 members, through more than 450 training partners globally. These certifications are recognized worldwide and have received endorsements from various government agencies including the U.S. federal government via the Montgomery GI Bill, Department of Defense via DoD 8570.01-M, National Security Agency (NSA) and the Committee on National Security Systems (CNSS). EC-Council also operates the global series of Hacker Halted security conferences.

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