[Izzy Dunne]

What's a DNS attack?
DoS would be Denial of Service - sending so many phony requests that the server is swamped.
DNS is the Domain Name Service - the only "attack" possible would be changing the registrar / site IP numbers, etc. That would be one person's doing, and hardly possible unless a password is given.
What am I missing?

[billorites]

"the only "attack" possible would be changing the registrar / site IP numbers, etc..."

Air America

[hellinahandcart]

He must mean DOS.

What he must also mean is that too many people went to their silly site one day, and they couldn't handle the load.

It must have been freepers. It couldn't have been all those (dozens) of devoted listeners in LA and Chicago who suddenly couldn't get Air America on their radio anymore and had to listen at the site. Naw, couldn't have been that...

[tdadams]

And it would seem to me, that since FR went down not to long ago precisely because someone filed a complaint with FR's internet registrar about an invalid phone number in their whois listing, FR is actually the one who was subject to a DNS attack (if that's what you want to call it).

Anyone trying to find the site by going to www.freerepublic.com would not get there. I have no reason to believe it wasn't someone from the leftist camp who reported the invalid phone number and shut down FR's DNS service for two days.

[Doctor Stochastic]

A DNS attack is a Did Not Say attack; plausible denial (PD) QED. The RMS level measured by RIAA compensation isn't really OTT.

What is this, a reincarnation of Pogo or Smokey Stover? Notary Sojack!

[Onelifetogive]

DoS would be Denial of Service - sending so many phony requests that the server is swamped.

He could be right....

If 3 or 4 of us clicked on their site on the same day, they likely were not prepared for that many visitors.....

[Tennessee_Bob]

You mean you didn't know? The UserID was AlFranken, the password was IAmFunnyReallyIAm.

You didn't get the memo?

[EUPHORIC]

"What am I missing?" They were referring to cache poisoning. It is possible on poorly configured DNS servers to fake an authoritative query and temporarily associate a domain name with an IP addy of your chosing which will effectively redirect traffic to a web site of ones chosing. Years ago I demonstrated live and online how this was done for some law enforcement types by changing my own net name to www.whitehouse.gov.

If someone IS doing this to them successfully it is indicative of very poor IT practices and I sure hope they are redirecting their site to some nice filthy porno sites! :)

[bondjamesbond]

DoS would be Denial of Service - sending so many phony requests that the server is swamped.

Well, they have known all along that FReepers are the only ones listening to their programming, haven't they?

I bet a lot of FReepers hit their site occaisionally, much as one might slow down to rubberneck at a particualarly gruesome car crash (look, here comes the helicopter!). But that does not consitute a denial of service attack.

Let me state unequivacally, that I have never, ever heard of any FReeper advocating a denial of service attack. Such tactics are vile. We will defeat AirAmerica in the field of ideas and in the marketplace...