microsoft explains. again.

Fri Jan 26 01:51:40 UTC 2001

Hmm... sounds... umh... "interesting".  And certainly something that
others could benefit from knowing the details of, at an appropriate time.

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2001/Jan01/01-25WebSitePR.asp
says:

   Statement by Microsoft on Web Site Availability 

   REDMOND, Wash. -- Jan. 25, 2001 -- During the morning of Jan. 25,
   Microsoft was the target of a denial of service attack against the
   routers that direct traffic to the company's Web sites. As a result,
   access to some of the Microsoft Internet properties, including
   Microsoft.com and MSN.com, was intermittent for many customers
   throughout this morning.

   Microsoft's global networking team quickly determined that today's
   issue was completely separate from yesterday's outage, and has taken a
   number of steps to address the issue. Currently, all sites are
   available to customers.

   This type of denial of service attack is not related to any Microsoft
   product. Such an attack is an attempt to interfere with the routers in
   one of Microsoft's Internet data centers. Microsoft's servers were
   running normally throughout the event, but the attack prevented access
   to some of the company's Web sites.

   It is unfortunate that an individual or group of individuals would
   engage in this kind of illegal activity. Microsoft has made the FBI
   aware of this situation, and has taken immediate steps to ensure our
   customers can gain access to our Web sites. These steps will also make
   sure that our networks have improved protection from this type of
   attack.

   We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused customers, and want
   to assure our customers that we will be taking more steps in the days
   and weeks ahead to further protect them and continue to provide a
   great Web experience.