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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A Salt Lake City telecommunications company has filed suit against the unknown hackers who launched a denial-of-service attack on an Internet communications service for the deaf.
Sorenson Communications Inc. contends that "Does 1-10" inundated its Internet Protocol Relay Service with false requests for service, keeping communications assistants from processing legitimate calls quickly.
The Internet Protocol Relay Service helps deaf and hearing callers communicate with each other.
The lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court asks for an order barring the unnamed defendants from interfering with its computers and network infrastructure and seeks unspecified actual and punitive damages.
So far, the identities of the attackers are unknown.
"We filed the complaint to protect the interests of our users," Michael Jordan, Sorenson IP relay manager, said Thursday.
Sorenson Communications contends the attacks have posed a threat to public health and safety because the system often is used to communicate with doctors, nurses, health care providers and emergency personnel.
Under the system, a deaf caller can initiate contact at the IP Relay Service Web site or through America Online's Instant Messenger. The caller provides a telephone number and a communications assistant makes the call. The assistant reads the messages to the hearing party and types out messages to the deaf person.
A hearing caller also can initiate a call by telephone. There is no charge to either party.
Instead, the federal government reimburses Sorenson and other companies for their operating costs.
To qualify, providers must answer a certain percentage of calls -- in Sorenson's case, 85 percent -- within 10 seconds.
The "speed of answer" calculation is determined daily and a company that falls short of its percentage loses that day's reimbursement. Sorenson estimates its daily operating cost at more than $20,000.
The alleged harassment began about Feb. 7 and involves a script that sends information to Sorenson servers, causing communications assistants to respond to fake requests and increasing their average time to answer a request to 10 minutes.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
