Years ago there was a tool by Tom Liston called LaBrea Tarpit that could be used in defending against a DDOS. The theory behind Tarpit was to acknowledge the p

Years ago there was a tool by Tom Liston called LaBrea Tarpit that could be used in defending against a DDOS. The theory behind Tarpit was to acknowledge the packet, then silently forget about it, releasing the resources on the defending side, but, the attacking side sat there with the resources being used. We used it rather successfully against a DDOS and while handing data over to several three letter agencies. Through cooperation with another country, 18 months later the hacker was arrested. Now, LaBrea was unique, DMCA was a new law on the block and Tom Liston received a legal brief or opinion (I don't recall from whom) that stated that several states that were classified as Super DMCA States might actually consider LaBrea to be a reverse DDOS. It was sort of a stretch of the existing law, but, you could see how it could be applied. The original intent of the SuperDMCA law was to prevent the anti-telemarketing devices from holding the line open when telemarketers called. Because of the way the old phone system worked, a flashhook would not disconnect two parties in case the person was on an older 1A switch and was trying to access certain services. This behavior moved over to 5ESS switches and even to this day, when someone calls, if they refuse to hang up and you don't have digital service, when you hang up you will not immediately get a dial tone. Briefly, the contention was that this behavior could prevent someone from calling 911 and could put the person in jeopardy. The rough comparison between the law and LaBrea Tarpit claimed Tarpit's behavior could constitute itself as a reverse DDOS - and Tom Liston stopped distribution of it. Of course, it was open source, but, by taking the stand that he wasn't distributing it, he was trying to protect himself from any legal liability. I've dealt with the FBI on other DDOS attacks and I am in Florida, and I have told them that I have used Tarpit to defend against the DDOS. During one attack, they did offer to write an OIA as they wanted the data (political site). So, even defending yourself against a DDOS could be illegal. :)