A flaw in the design of a popular peer-to-peer network software has given attackers the ability to create massive denial-of-service attacks that can easily overwhelm corporate Web sites, a security firm warned last week. Over the past three months, more than 40 companies have endured attacks emanating from hundreds of thousands of Internet protocol addresses (IPs), with many of the attacks producing more than a gigabit of junk data every second, according to security solutions provider Prolexic Technologies. The sheer number of Internet addresses has caused problems for routers and firewalls, burying solutions that rely on some form of blacklisting, said Paul Sop, chief technology officer for the firm.

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