by KYW's Bob Bicknell
The federal
government and Internet security experts are warning about a serious
computer flaw that could shut down almost all Internet traffic.
There is concern an attack could come as soon as Thursday.
For months, Internet security experts have been working in
secret, trying to fix a flaw in a core Internet technology.
The flaw affects the Internet's transmission control protocol, or
"TCP."
A hacker armed with the right information could disrupt the
devices that control Internet traffic, effectively taking large
portions of the global network offline.
The governments of the United States and Great Britain issued
alerts Tuesday, warning an attack could disrupt Internet service
around the world.
The flaw was discovered by Wisconsin researcher Paul Watson last
year.
Watson is expected to present his findings to an Internet
security conference on Thursday.
He's predicting hackers would understand how to begin launching
attacks within minutes of his speech.
Right now, there's nothing individual Internet users can do about
it.
