Denial-of-service attacks target Myanmar

A major distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack has cut off network traffic in the country of Myanmar (formerly Burma).

Security firm Arbor Networks reported major spikes in traffic at certain times over the past week that prevented access for the country's largest internet service provider.

Arbor Networks said that the traffic spikes peaked at 14.58Gbit/s, well beyond the levels believed necessary to take down the country's network infrastructure.

The company declined to speculate on motives for the attack, but chief scientist Craig Labovitz noted in a blog post that the surge is greater than previous high-profile attacks on national infrastructures.

"DDoS attacks against e-commerce and commercial sites are common (hundreds per day), but large-scale geo-politically motivated attacks, especially ones targeting an entire country, remain rare with a few notable exceptions," he said.

"At 10Gbit/s to 15Gbit/s, the Myanmar attack is also significantly larger than the 2007 Georgia and Estonia attacks."

Myanmar and its junta government are no strangers to controversy when it comes to internet access. The country has long been criticised for its censorship policies and attempts to block electronic media.