While network security experts disagree on when the first Distributed-Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack occurred, it is generally conceded that the most visible series of attacks occurred in February 2000, when Internet giants Yahoo, Amazon, eBay, E-trade, and others were attacked intermittently over a period of several days. The Yankee Group estimated the total cumulative costs of these attacks at $1.2 billion in U.S. dollars, and it was later discovered that the attacks were conducted by a 15-year-old Canadian teenager using the alias “Mafiaboy.”. The teenager had crafted the series of attacks using several publicly available hacker tools.
