I posted an article 3 weeks ago about News Corp allegedly green lighting internal staff’s hacking into rival Dish’s corporate network to steal trade secrets.  Today’s headlines bring word that MediaDefender, the vigilante corporation funded by large media companies to disrupt P2P networks that share copyrighted content, is in hot water over allegations of launching DDoS attacks on IP TV company Revision3.  The interesting thing is that the attack seems to have occurred not because Revision3 was engaging in any specific copyright violations, but because their security systems were preventing MediaDefender from monitoring Revision3 with their automated toolset - the equivalent of my neighbor smashing down my front door so he can regularly enter to make sure I am not beating my kids (I employ more subtle measures).  I guess in the instant gratification age we are in, we don’t have time to take legal recourse, if that even existed in this case.  It is one thing to take active defense measures against a bot herder, quite another for one legitimate business to shake down another.  Hopefully, MediaDefender will get nailed for this “hackers gone wild” show.

I recorded this webcast, Securing your Network - the Constant Battle, to talk about current issues and emerging best practices.