Live data from Hacker News

FCC says its cybersecurity measures to prevent DDoS attacks must remain secret

techcrunch.com

31–35 of 35 posts

Re: FCC says its cybersecurity measures to prevent DDoS attacks must remain secret

#31
post #30
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was most definitely an automated (fraudulent) effort, if you doubt it go and see [1] if submissions were made in members of your family's name. I have no idea if it's Comcast doing it, my impression is that's just a catchy name for the site. There is a complex regex search that the site uses to find copies of "the comment" – I was shocked how many of my family members (not with their actual addresses, but names…

So the reason FCC won't release these records is that they don't want to implicate their boss?

Haha. Yes

The news coverage of this campaign was back in May, but the campaign continued on into July at least.

Re: FCC says its cybersecurity measures to prevent DDoS attacks must remain secret

#32
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't DDOS mitigation an area where obscurity is the standard? I am no expert on this but it seems like most providers keep the info about how they filter traffic pretty close to the chest.

As far as I can tell (as someone in the networking field but not a DDoS or HA expert), the standard for DDoS mitigation is basically "be bigger": too many POPs/routes, too much capacity to eat packets and establish TCP connections, capacity to serve cached responses, etc. such that even a huge attack simply can't exhaust your resources. To even think about classification and filtering means that you're somehow ingest…

I guess I was thinking about providers like prolexic that filter the traffic for you. They must have some methodology for doing that.

Re: FCC says its cybersecurity measures to prevent DDoS attacks must remain secret

#33
The FCC's comments and all their interactions with the public since Ajit Pai has taken over honestly sound like what I would say to someone who I know has no idea about how technology works and I screwed up but I don't want them to know. I'm surprised we haven't heard about BSODs and exchange emails being lost or hard drives accidentally wiped after two days as is policy.

It's pretty clear that he's trying to pull the wool over our eyes and because the tech press has gone from being actual journalists to just eating up PR pieces and worrying about access so much that they refuse to do any real investigations, we're left with no one who appears credible to the public to actually do the investigation and publicize the wrong-doing.

Re: FCC says its cybersecurity measures to prevent DDoS attacks must remain secret

#34
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not only that, in what way does an independent agency having zero ties to national security or the IC have any right to hold just about* anything secret? This is asinine!

I think you underestimate just how far we've allowed natsec expansion to taint even the most benign agencies. As a constitutionalist, the real problem as I have condensed it is that the balance between providing for the common defense has completely overshadowed things like securing the blessings of liberty. Our gov is increasingly leaning authoritarian, and the populace has allowed it.

I wouldn't say I've underestimated anything. That was an honest question; as in: "what mental gymnastics did the FCC do to even think that keeping secrets is allowable?"

That aside, I would agree with you.

Re: FCC says its cybersecurity measures to prevent DDoS attacks must remain secret

#35
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you underestimate just how far we've allowed natsec expansion to taint even the most benign agencies. As a constitutionalist, the real problem as I have condensed it is that the balance between providing for the common defense has completely overshadowed things like securing the blessings of liberty. Our gov is increasingly leaning authoritarian, and the populace has allowed it.

I wouldn't say I've underestimated anything. That was an honest question; as in: "what mental gymnastics did the FCC do to even think that keeping secrets is allowable?" That aside, I would agree with you.

Ah, a small miscommunication I guess. My guess is the decision to keep secrets was made and then someone was told to do the gymnastics.
Post reply on HN