Is this the first case of a Distributed Denial of Physical Service?

[<tonyl () s2s ltd uk>]

Hi,

Please see:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/34388.html
http://www.cambs.police.uk/camops/press_releases/press_releases.asp?ID=1992

It appears that an individual has successfully socially engineered a distributed denial of physical service (DDoPS?).

A (hoax) email had been sent out to individuals informing them of their latest purchase and that their credit card had 
been charged accordingly.

As the individuals had not ordered iPods at £399.95, they were socially engineered into calling the customer service 
line given in the email.

This telephone number happened to be for the UK's Cambridgeshire Constabulary (police) Main Switchboard.

At the peak of this DDoPS, the switchboard was receiving 500 calls an hour, effectively denying the usual use of this 
telephone service.

It appears that a whole range of "systems" and processes may be vulnerable to this type of attack and raises some 
interesting points to consider...

Kind regards,

Tony Langley
Systems Architect
S2S Limited