Hong Kong web host jailed for DDoS stunt
A Hong Kong IT business owner has been banged up for nine months after launching distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks on a Hong Kong Stock Exchange web site in a botched attempt to market his firm’s anti-DDoS service.
Tse Man-lai, the 28-year-old owner of local web hoster Pacswitch Globe Telecom, was found guilty of launching the attacks on the HKExnews site on August 12 and 13 last year, according to South China Morning Post.
The site is the stock exchange’s official platform for company announcements and so a high profile target for those looking to disrupt the Special Administrative Region’s financial stability. Tse’s attacks followed two arguably more serious DDoS blasts from outside the region on August 10 and 11, which forced the exchange to shut down the site and suspend trading in seven firms including HSBC and Cathay Pacific.
