Senators Mobilize Against Website Attacks

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Senators Mobilize Against Website Attacks By David McGuire, Newsbytes WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 10 Feb 2000, 5:02 PM CST

Responding to the spate of recent attacks against commercial Websites, a number of legislators are calling for a crackdown on computer crime.

"We might have to pass some legislation to get even tougher" on computer crime, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orin Hatch, R-Utah, said Wednesday. Hatch intends to hold a hearing sometime in March to determine whether current laws give law enforcers the "tools that they need" to prosecute computer crime offenses, Judiciary Committee spokesperson Jeanne Lopatto said today.

Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott has also raised concerns about the recent attacks and is "monitoring the situation," according to the majority leader's office.

Hatch, Lott and others on the hill are reacting to the recent glut of "denial of service" attacks against large e-commerce providers such as Amazon.com, CNN.com, and E-Trade.

The most recent confirmed attack struck Excite and there are unconfirmed reports that America Online has fallen victim to a denial of service attack.

Reported by Newsbytes.com, http://www.newsbytes.com .

17:02

-- Jen Bunker (jen@bunkergroup.com), February 12, 2000


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