Hackers Up Attacks On Media, Showbiz

Computer hackers’ efforts to penetrate and disrupt media and entertainment networks were up sharply in the quarter that ended June 30, major Internet security company Verisign reported. Media and entertainment companies represented 20 percent of Verisign’s work in the quarter to thwart or minimize attacks such as the 2014 assault on Sony Pictures Entertainment, according to Rapid TV News. Verisign said the largest attack targeted online video services with denial-of-service hacks that flood servers with enormous volumes of phony traffic that can crash even the most powerful servers and grind activity to a halt. The attempt used a massive mix of network-hogging programs that could have severely disrupted traffic if Verisign had not been able to minimize the effectiveness of the attack.