Microsoft Explains Site Access Issues

During the morning of January 25, Microsoft was the target of a
denial-of-service attack against the routers that direct traffic to our Web
sites. 

As a result, access to some of Microsoft Internet properties, including
microsoft.com and MSN.com, was intermittent for many customers
throughout this morning.

Microsoft's global networking team quickly determined that today's issue
was completely separate from Wednesday's outage (caused by a router
configuration error), and has taken a number of steps to address the issue.
Currently, all sites are available. 

This type of denial-of-service attack is not related to any Microsoft product.
Such an attack is an attempt to interfere with the routers in one of
Microsoft's Internet data centers. 

Microsoft's servers were running normally throughout the event, but the
attack prevented access to some of Microsoft's Web sites. It is unfortunate
that an individual or group of individuals would engage in this kind of illegal
activity. Microsoft has made the FBI aware of this situation. Microsoft has
taken immediate steps to ensure our customers can gain access to our Web
sites. These steps will also make sure that our networks have improved
protection from this type of attack. 

We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused, and want to assure
you that we will be taking further steps in the days and weeks ahead to
further protect our customers and continue to provide a great Web
experience. 

from http://www.microsoft.com/info/siteaccess.htm
Last Updated: Thursday, January 25, 2001 - 5:07 p.m. Pacific Time