In Internet-based computer-networking, a Twinge attack is a flood of false
ICMP
The Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) is a supporting protocol in the Internet protocol suite. It is used by network devices, including routers, to send error messages and operational information indicating success or failure when com ...
packets in an attempt to cripple a system.
The attack is
spoofed, that is, random fake Internet source addresses are used in the ICMP packets. This makes identification of the source of the malicious packets difficult. The idea of the attack is to either degrade the performance of the attacked computer or make it crash. The attacking program is called Twinge, but the ICMP packets have a particular signature which gives the identity away.
As long as the computer is safely behind a
router or a
firewall
Firewall may refer to:
* Firewall (computing), a technological barrier designed to prevent unauthorized or unwanted communications between computer networks or hosts
* Firewall (construction), a barrier inside a building, designed to limit the spre ...
, there is nothing to worry about with this attack.
[ With this attack, the adversary intends to prevent the system from operating normally, i.e. a ]denial of service
In computing, a denial-of-service attack (DoS attack) is a cyberattack in which the perpetrator seeks to make a machine or network resource unavailable to its intended users by temporarily or indefinitely disrupting services of a host co ...
.[
]
References
Denial-of-service attacks
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