Special Coverage: Network-based Attacks on Kyrgz ISPs Continue

Bishkek, 2 March February 2005 (ONI). Sustained Distributed Denial of Service attacks (DDOS) continue to affect the operations of Kyrgyzstan’s’ leading ISPs. Three days of attacks are seriously affecting web hosting servers at Elcat and Asiainfo and overloading their international connections to the Internet. Traffic volumes generated by the attacks have forced the ISP to temporarily filter all web-requests from outside of Kyrgyzstan. So far the only solution to combating the DDOS attacks offered by upstream Internet providers in Russia and Europe is to turn off the international channels, effectively cutting off all traffic into and out of Kyrgyzstan.

A group calling itself “Shadow Team” is claiming responsibility for the attacks. In an e-mail message sent to the ISPs, and obtained by ONI, the group threatens to continue the attacks until specific websites hosted by the ISPs are closed down or removed. Elcat and Asiainfo are facing intense pressure to comply, as the persistence of the attacks is affecting their ability to supply hosting services to a large number of clients in Kyrgyzstan that include NGOs, businesses and international organizations.

ONI experts together with their partners from the Civil Initiative for Internet Policy (Kyrgyzstan) are examining ISP log files and assisting staff from the affected Kyrgyz ISPs with responding to the attacks.