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Hackers Zap Kyrgyz Internet

Latest Russian assault in cyber warfare

By Peter Fearon, Newser Staff

Posted Jan 28, 2009 5:21 AM CST

(Newser) – A Russian "cyber-militia" has shut down access to the Internet in Kyrgyzstan, the Wall Street Journal reports. Service providers in the former Soviet republic have been swamped with traffic during the past several days, in a denial of service attack that has downed websites and crippled email delivery. Motivations for the attack are unclear.

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Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Internet experts believe Russia may be behind a high tech assault on Kyrgyzstan's Internet access. (AP Photo/RIA-Novosti, Dmitry Astakhov, Presidential Press Service)

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We are concerned about this in terms of our own readiness and preparedness. - Don Jackson, director of threat intelligence at Atlanta Internet security firm SecureWorks

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Hackers Zap Kyrgyz Internet