:: Deepquest ::

A year ago,few people had heard of Anonymous, understood what a DDoS attack was, or even realized that hackers were capable of bringing down entire networks. But as geek bloggers love to point out, 2011 was the year of the hack, the year that Anonymous became a household name and armies of its devotees took to the streets, all wearing Guy Fawkes masks like that final, mind-blowing, Parliament …

This year saw a number of sensational instances when the Web sites of various government agencies and corporations were hacked, in what appeared to a series of cyber-wars, initiated by a group of hackers.

A surge in high-profile hacker attacks this year is demonstrating the limits of an older generation of security software from Symantec Corp.

A surge in high-profile hacker attacks this year is demonstrating the limits of an older generation of security software from Symantec Corp. and McAfee Inc., putting pressure on them to revamp their product lines.