Symbiot Launches DDoS counter-strike tool

Security company Symbiot is about to launch a product that can hit back at hackers and DDoS attacks by lashing out with its own arsenal of tricks, but experts say it may just be a bit too trigger-happy.

Symbiot, a Texas-based security firm, is preparing to launch a corporate defence system at the end of March that can fight back against distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) and hacker attacks by launching a counter-strike.

In advance of the product launch, Symbiot's president, Mike Erwin, and its chief scientist, Paco Nathan, have outlined a set of "rules of engagement for information warfare", which they say should be part of corporate security policy to help companies determine their exact response to an incoming attack.

"Until today, security solutions have been totally passive in nature. Merely erecting defensive walls around the perimeter of an enterprise network is not an adequate deterrent," said Erwin, who argues that to have a complete defence in place, offensive tactics must be employed. The company said it bases its theory on the military doctrine of "necessity and proportionality", which means the response to an attack is proportionate to the attack's ferocity. According to the company, a response could range from "profiling and blacklisting upstream providers" or it could be escalated to launch a "distributed denial of service counter-strike".

Security experts expressed alarm at the company's plans.

Graham Titterington, principal analyst at Ovum, said "such a counterattack would not be regarded as self-defence and would therefore be an attack. It would be illegal in those jurisdictions where an anti-hacking law is in place." He added that because many hacking and DDoS attacks are launched from hijacked computers, the system would be unlikely to find its real target: "Attacks are often launched from a site that has been hijacked, making it an unwitting and innocent -- although possibly slightly negligent -- party."

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