The Internet Is More Vulnerable Than You Think
Most of the time, the Internet flows like water or electricity. But disruptions do happen, and last week brought a big one when an as-yet unidentified group attempted to take down the servers of European anti-spam group Spamhaus by slamming them with as much as 300 gbps of bogus traffic.
According to multiple reports, the digital onslaught -- known in tech parlance as a distributed denial of service, or DDoS, attack -- is the largest on record, and affected performance across the continent. Akamai Technologies , whose Kona security service is built to deflect Internet threats, was among the first to report the dramatic rise in Web traffic in Europe.
Other reports said that worldwide sabotage of some undersea cables may be playing a bigger role in the European slowdown. Either way, the Internet is more vulnerable than any of us would like to admit, and we need to be investing accordingly, says Tim Beyers, of Motley Fool Rule Breakers and Motley Fool Supernova, in the following video.
Do you believe cloud computing providers have done enough to account for the known frailties of the Internet? Let us know where you stand in the comments box below.
Too skittish to bet on airy Internet stocks? The Motley Fool's chief investment officer has taken from a classic, earthy industry for his No. 1 stock for this year. Find out which it is in the brand-new free report, "The Motley Fool's Top Stock for 2013." Just click here to access the report and find out the name of this under-the-radar company.
The article The Internet Is More Vulnerable Than You Think originally appeared on Fool.com.
Fool contributor Tim Beyers is a member of the Motley Fool Rule Breakers stock-picking team and the Motley Fool Supernova Odyssey I mission. He owned shares of, and had a long-term call options position in, Netflix at the time of publication. Check out Tim's web home and portfolio holdings, or connect with him on Google+, Tumblr, or Twitter, where he goes by @milehighfool. You can also get his insights delivered directly to your RSS reader.The Motley Fool owns shares of Netflix. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Netflix. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.
Copyright © 1995 - 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
