Verizon Wireless restores 4Chan traffic after temporary block

Verizon Wireless has restored traffic affiliated with the 4chan online forum after concerns over network attacks. According to Verizon, the block occurred after its security and external experts detected attacks from an IP address associated with the 4Chan family of websites: "At no time was 4Chan itself blocked," writes Verizon Wireless vice president of corporate communications Jim Gerace on the operator's Policy Blog. "Ongoing network security team monitoring has now determined there is no longer an immediate threat."

According to Gerace, Verizon feared a "sweep"--i.e., an attack involving hundreds of thousands of messages sent to wireless devices to round up active customer addresses. "These 'sweeps' can jam our network and deliver unwanted electronic messages that also can drain customer devices' battery life and slow their operation," he explains. "We take being the nation's most reliable wireless network seriously. Seriously enough to protect our customers and our network from malicious attacks, even if we get dinged in the blogosphere. It's easy to complain about 'blocking' when your wireless data connection is stable, fast and reliable. But try connecting to the web from your Droid or Blackberry when attacks slow--and potentially block--use of our network all together."

4chan is notorious for its Internet pranks--users have popularized a host of web memes, including lolcats and rickrolling. Last summer, AT&T blocked a 4chan server after another site launched a denial-of-service type of attack against 4chan.

For more on the 4chan traffic block:
- read this CNet article