An Internet service provider in Ireland today blamed a lack of support from
fellow ISPs for nine months of denial service attacks that ultimately brought
it to its knees last week.
Connect Ireland has recently received international media
attention because of the apparently politically-motivated attacks. Connect
hosts a top-level domain (www.freedom.tp) for the country of East Timor,
which is currently occupied by Indonesia.
Martin Maquire, project director for Connect Ireland, said the systematic
attacks on the ISP’s servers came from at least ten different sources.
Although he admits he has no hard proof, Maquire believes the effort was
organized by the government of Indonesia.
“It’s a regime that has shown lilttle regard for human life. Attacking an
Internet service would not be outside their moral boundaries,” he said.
Either way, Connect’s ability to repel the attacks was thwarted, according
to Maquire, when most of the ISPs from which the attacks emanated turned an
indifferent ear toward Connect’s pleas for help.
“Seven out of ten more or less said ‘we’re not going to bother [to help]
unless it affects us,'” Maquire reported.
“Security is a mutual concern,
and codes of practice must be put in place so internet providers can expect
a level of service from each other for this type of activity,” said Maquire.
Maquire said that the East Timorese domain should be back online within
days. He announced that Connect will soon be issuing vanity e-mail
addresses ending in @freedom.tp, to allow people everywhere to show their
support.