Perry's camp claims online event hacked By PEGGY FIKAC Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau
Sept. 29, 2009, 7:52PM http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6643770.html AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry was “Talkin' Texas” online Tuesday, but his campaign said countless Texans were prevented from logging on because the highly touted event was sabotaged by an onslaught of fake users. Although some 22,000 people were able to log on, the focus on those who could not — and why — eclipsed Perry's message, which included such controversy-stirring ideas as requiring a constitutional amendment before state taxes can be raised. “This planned and coordinated attack was political sabotage, and we are working to identify those responsible for this illegal activity,” said campaign spokesman Mark Miner. Opponents suggested the event, billed as “an unprecedented use of social media,” simply was bungled. “What an embarrassing campaign launch,” said Jennifer Baker, spokeswoman for U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who's challenging Perry for the GOP nod for governor. “I'm sure the governor is hacked, but we are skeptical their site was. … Rick Perry isn't exactly a stranger when it comes to arrogantly blaming others for his mistakes.” Phillip Martin, with the Texas Democratic Trust, said, “The more likely thing was they didn't have a host server that could handle the volume of traffic.” Flood of traffic flagged The skeptics are wrong, said Anthony Kukla, president of Redglue Inc., service provider for Perry's campaign and the webcast. He said the site was targeted by a denial-of-service attack called a SYN flood. Such an attack fakes a large number of users trying to connect to the server, with the goal of tying it up, Kukla said. He said the attack was flagged by Redglue's firewall system, traffic was shut down and connections reset. Kukla said there was no chance there were too many real users trying to sign on. He said the server could have handled anything that was thrown at it. The server was not completely tied up, he said. On the webcast, streamed live from the Caterpillar facility Holt Cat in San Antonio, Perry pitched several ideas, including one to make permanent a small-business tax break approved on a temporary basis this year; putting criminal penalties on employers “who knowingly violate employment laws by hiring workers who are in Texas illegally;” and a proposal to require a constitutional amendment for state tax increases, which would mean a two-thirds vote of lawmakers and voter approval on a state ballot. -- ================================ George Antunes, Political Science Dept University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204 Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927 Mail: antunes at uh dot edu *********************************** * POST TO MEDIANEWS@ETSKYWARN.NET * *********************************** Medianews mailing list Medianews@etskywarn.net http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
