According to report of non-profit research group called the US-CCU (US Cyber Consequences Unit) the attack that brought internet traffic to a standstill in Georgia last year were carried out by two separate groups.
The attacks are significant because they coincided with the Russian military's invasion of Georgia in August 2008 when attackers made it almost impossible officials to communicate about what was happening during the military operation. The first group involved used botnets, command and control channels, and other resources operated by Russian crime gangs to attack e-commerce sites. A separate source of the cyber attacks came in the form of civilians who installed software that targeted websites operated by different agencies. In many cases, the civilians were recruited using US-based social networking sites, and the list includes Facebook and Twitter (according to article from The Wall Street Journal). Also, in some cases, the attack tools were modifications of two pieces of software made by Microsoft: Web Application Stress and Web Capacity Analysis Tool. This attack present new development of cyber attack because it include wider circle of people, and tools required very little knowledge of computers. For additional information, readers can visit TheRegistar website.
