• PC World
• » Web

The free Internet Relay Chat (IRC) network run by the Undernet is continuing to be assaulted by distributed denial-of-service attacks, leading some of the companies that operate the group's servers to terminate their hosting agreements.

In an updated notice posted Thursday on its Web site, the Undernet's administrators said it's still uncertain when they will be able to restore the IRC network to full working order. The networks of the Internet service providers that host Undernet servers in the U.S. and Europe "have been subjected to continued denial-of-service attacks," the statement said.

Such attacks have been a frequent problem with IRC servers, according to the Undernet advisory. But it adds that the attacks this week "have been so severe that some [companies] have terminated their agreements to host IRC servers on the Undernet network."

Persistent Attacks Target ISPs

Even disconnecting the IRC servers hasn't stopped the attacks, the notice says. Hosting companies that have taken that step are still being assaulted, leading the Undernet's administrators to conclude that the attackers are trying "not only to destroy an IRC network, but also to adversely impact the business enterprise of individual ISPs that have hosted Undernet IRC servers."

IRC is a real-time text messaging service that predates many of the instant messaging services now available online, such as America Online's Instant Messenger. Millions of people use IRC, and Undernet is one of the largest networks, with 45 servers connecting users in more than 35 countries.

But the Undernet's administrators say the future of the group's network remains uncertain because of the ongoing attacks, which are believed to be originating from Romania.

An Undernet system administrator who spoke on condition of anonymity says the recent attacks are nothing new for IRC services. However, he says this assault appears to be an act of revenge by someone who was denied access to a specific IRC channel.

Efforts to reach Undernet officials for additional comment today were unsuccessful. The denial-of-service attacks were first reported last Sunday and have forced the organization to shut down most of its free messaging services.

Inside the Undernet

Most Undernet servers are operated by ISPs and Web hosting firms. There are 17 Undernet servers in the U.S. and Canada at companies such as AOL, AT&T Worldnet, and Mindppring Enterprises, now part of EarthLink. As with other distributed denial-of-service attacks, the servers are being flooded with phony information requests that overload them.

Jim Dreher, vice president of Internet product management at RCN, says the attack has had no impact on commercial operations run through its Erols Internet unit. "We haven't experienced too many problems and don't have any plans to take [an Undernet server hosted by Erols] down," he says, adding that the system "is pretty low maintenance."

While many other United States ISPs that host Undernet servers didn't respond to requests for comment by deadline, representatives from AOL and EarthLink could not confirm any attacks on their networks.

Darren Reed, a software engineer and consultant at Optimation Software Engineering who was involved in some of the early IRC software work, says the denial-of-service attacks could add a significant amount of traffic to an ISP's network.

But for most Internet users, Reed adds, the ongoing assaults aren't a big deal. "Unless you use IRC, I don't think this is something you should be worried about," he says.

Rick Forno, a security officer at Network Solutions, a major domain name registrar, also says the attack shouldn't concern the general Internet user.

"IRC is not used by that many people in the mainstream," Forno says. The only real impact, he adds, is that some ISPs hosting Undernet servers are seeing increased traffic on their networks and Undernet users are suffering degraded IRC service.

But for some of the companies that host Undernet servers, the choice of whether or not to continue doing that could be an easy one, Reed says.

• See more like this:
• IRC,
• ISPs,
• Denial-of-Service