The new version of a software package dubbed 'Trinoo' allows attackers to infiltrate ordinary desktop computers running Microsoft's Windows operating system. These computers — particularly those connected to high-speed Internet services — could then be used in assaults on other Web sites, security analysts say. . . .These tools allow an attacker to place agents on "zombie" computers around the world and then wake them up simultaneously to launch a crippling stream of Web traffic at a target site.

A new form of Denial of Service (DoS) attack caused by the trin00 and Tribe Network Flood programs has been wreaking havoc on bandwidth on a larger scale than ever before, according to Chris Klous, founder and chief technology officer of Internet Security Systems (ISS).

This DoS attack employs a simple concept: sending bogus packets from a remote location to IP routers where they collect and eventually plug up a pipe. The danger is manifested in this version because the hackers are gaining control of as many as thousands of vulnerable zombie computers in order to magnify and direct their full-scale assault against a single victim from all directions.