This screenshot shows the simple user interface the attack uses to launch attack. The attacker simply specifies which IP address to target, the length of time for the attack, and the port to target. The language at the bottom says 'don't use it on your friends' in Indonesian.
(Credit: Screenshot by Elinor Mills/CNET)
Researchers have uncovered a botnet that uses compromised Web servers instead of the usual personal computers to launch denial-of-service (DoS) attacks.
Security firm Imperva said on Wednesday it uncovered a botnet of about 300 Web servers after the company witnessed traffic coming from a compromised server and then searched for the attack code via Google. Web servers were commonly used in such attacks a decade ago but had been replaced by the more ubiquitous Windows-based PCs, said Amachai Shulman, chief technology officer at Imperva.