Election 2019: live blog
Last updated: 11 December 2019
How "sophisticated" was the cyber attack on Labour?
In recent days the Labour party's web systems have been hit by what the party described as a “sophisticated and large scale cyber attack”. But what is a DDoS attack, and exactly how sophisticated is it? We asked Professor Alan Woodward of the Surrey Centre for Cyber Security:
“I was surprised to see Labour describe this attack as sophisticated. DDoS attacks are as old as the hills and you can buy them off the shelf: little knowledge required. Criminals providing crime as a service often have DDoS attacks as their entry level offering.
“Any high profile site should expect a DDoS attack and be prepared for it. There are many service providers who will help protect against such an attack.”
You can read our full article here.