https://www.iotworldtoday.com/wp-content/themes/ioti_child/assets/images/logo/IoTWorldToday-mobile-logo.png
  • Home
  • News
    • Back
    • Roundups
  • Strategy
  • Special Reports
  • Business Resources
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Industry Perspectives
    • Featured Vendors
  • Other Content
    • Back
    • Q&As
    • Case Studies
    • Features
    • How-to
    • Opinion
    • Podcasts
    • Strategic Partners
    • Latest videos
  • More
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Editorial Submissions
  • Events
Iot World Today
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • News
    • Back
    • Roundups
  • Strategy
  • Special Reports
  • Business Resources
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Industry Perspectives
    • Featured Vendors
  • Other Content
    • Back
    • Q&As
    • Case Studies
    • Features
    • How-to
    • Opinion
    • Podcasts
    • Strategic Partners
    • Latest videos
  • More
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Editorial Submissions
  • Events
  • newsletter
  • IIoT
  • Cities
  • Energy
  • Homes/Buildings
  • Transportation/Logistics
  • Connected Health Care
  • Retail
  • AI
  • Metaverse
  • Development
  • Security
ioti.com

Security


Mirai’s Role in DDoS Attack Casts Shadow on IoT

Today's distributed denial-of-service attack on Dyn servers that brought down popular websites was powered in part by Internet of Things devices infected by Mirai malware.
  • Written by Tom Kaneshige
  • 21st October 2016

In Japanese, the name “Mirai” means “the future.” It’s also the name of a malware that has infected some half-million Internet of Things devices, potentially turning them into a massive botnet. Today, the future smashed into the Internet.

Dave Allen, general counsel at Dyn, a domain name system company, told the New York Times that Mirai played a role in today’s distributed denial-of-service attack on Dyn. Traffic coming from tens of millions of IP addresses, including IoT devices such as surveillance cameras and home routers, flooded Dyn servers and brought down popular websites.

Netflix, Twitter, Spotify, Airbnb, Github, among others, suffered outages at various times of the day.

Today’s troubles, however, were foreshadowed earlier this month when a hacker published the Mirai source code. Security researches say the malicious code isn’t particularly sophisticated but doesn’t have to be, given weak default logins and passwords of simple IoT devices. Last week, Level 3, an internet service provider, reported 493,000 devices had been infected with Mirai malware.

“All the code needed was 61 different combinations of username and passwords to create this giant botnet,” Chase Cunningham, PhD, a former U.S. Navy chief cryptologic technician who supported U.S. Special Forces and Navy Seals in Iraq, told Internet of Things Institute earlier this month. “It just takes seconds to grab a device and use it for botnet or DDoS.”

Cunningham ran a query with some code looking for devices that identify themselves as “IoT.” He says he found 3,551 devices just “sitting for somebody waiting to tell them what to do.”

Apparently, someone told them what to do today. Speaking on a livestream, Dale Drew, chief security officer at Level 3, says he found evidence that roughly 10 percent of all devices infected by Mirai were being used to attack Dyn’s servers.

Even worse, Mirai portends a darker future. If Cisco’s prediction comes to pass — a world where 50 billion things will be connected to the Internet by the year 2020 — and hackers can seize control so that many devices mindlessly do their bidding, then we’ll be living in a new kind of zombie apocalypse.

“I have this running joke that I tell people: It is like being in a zombie marathon,” Cunningham says.

A distributed denial-of-service attack is only one action a hacker of IoT devices can take. Cunningham worries about power grids and other critical infrastructure being compromised. If a water treatment plant is using an automated IoT-enabled chemical induction system, he says, someone may be able to hack into it and dump chlorine and other chemicals into the water to sicken citizens.

“Unfortunately, pain is the greatest teacher there is,” Cunningham says. “Until we really feel some sort of physical or financial or societal pain from this IoT security issue, it is not going to be anything other than a line item on a budget.”

Additional reporting by Brian Buntz.

Tags: Article Security Technologies News

Related Content


  • Caltech campus
    Robots Could Gain Sense of Touch, With New Artificial Skin
    New design can help businesses determine the presence of hazardous materials, offer greater safety for workers
  • Clearview AI Fined $9.4M Over Facial Data Scraping
    The company was ordered to delete any data it held on U.K. citizens.
  • Microsoft Ramping up Cybersecurity Service Offerings
    Three new managed services will boost the company’s presence in the security space
  • IoT Product Roundup
    IoT Product Roundup: PTC, Nokia, Arm and More
    All the latest Internet of Things products

Leave a comment Cancel reply

-or-

Log in with your IoT World Today account

Alternatively, post a comment by completing the form below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Latest News

  • Microsoft Extends Secured-Core Program to IoT Devices
  • Spot the Robot Dog Helps Police Ahead of Boston’s Fourth of July Celebration
  • Unmanned Robotic Combat Vehicle Being Tested
  • Image shows a Close up of lens on black background
    Carnegie Mellon Researchers Invent System to Find Hidden Cameras

Roundups

View all

IoT Product Roundup: Canonical, InfluxData, Wiliot and More

23rd June 2022

IoT Product Roundup: Cisco, Telit, Draganfly and More

9th June 2022

IoT Deals, Partnerships Roundup: Google, Arm, Senet and More

26th May 2022

White Papers

View all

The Role of Manufacturing Technology in Continuous Improvement Ebook

6th April 2022

IIoT Platform Trends for Manufacturing in 2022

6th April 2022

Latest Videos

View all
Image shows Unilever's Alberto Prado at AI Summit 2022 in London

AI Summit 2022: Unilever’s Alberto Prado

Prado talks about how Unilever is using AI to accelerate the speed of new discoveries and gives them access to more breakthrough innovation

Image Shows John Lewis' Barry Panai at AI Summit London 2022

AI Summit 2022: John Lewis’ Barry Panayi on AI in Retail

Panayi talks about data and AI in retail and how individuals and the technology can work together

E-books

View all

How Remote Access Helps Enterprises Improve IT Service and Employee Satisfaction

12th January 2022

An Integrated Approach to IoT Security

6th November 2020

Webinars

View all

Rethinking the Database in the IoT Era

18th May 2022

Jumpstarting Industrial IoT solutions with an edge data management platform

12th May 2022

AI led Digital Transformation of Manufacturing: Time is NOW

9th December 2021

Special Reports

View all

Omdia’s Smart Home Market Dynamics Report

7th January 2022

Cybersecurity Protection Increasingly Depends on Machine Learning

28th October 2020

IoT Security Best Practices for Industry and Enterprise

20th October 2020

Twitter

IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

AI Summit 2022: Unilever’s Alberto Prado dlvr.it/STMpRN https://t.co/1dyLREr8N6

5th July 2022
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

Seoul Robotics Expands 3D Perception Platform across South America dlvr.it/STMhSV https://t.co/a10l3Eb2Kn

5th July 2022
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

Microsoft Extends Secured-Core Program to IoT Devices dlvr.it/STMg4k https://t.co/laBPF5VjC4

5th July 2022
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

Spot the Robot Dog Helps Police Ahead of Boston’s Fourth of July Celebration dlvr.it/STKWjb https://t.co/LdRg7a2xqU

4th July 2022
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

Another 59,000 @Teslas being recalled over a software glitch affecting the vehicle’s Emergency Call safety system… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

4th July 2022
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

Join us in the premier #tech destination of #Austin this November 2-3 for our next #IoT event. Connect and collabo… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

4th July 2022
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

SoftBank, May Mobility Team on Autonomous Driving dlvr.it/STJrW0 https://t.co/mOYoBsgs14

4th July 2022
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

Firefly-Inspired Robots Enable Motion Tracking, Communication dlvr.it/STJn0H https://t.co/ksRSzYcR4z

4th July 2022

Newsletter

Sign up for IoT World Today newsletters: vertical industry coverage on Tuesdays and horizontal tech coverage on Thursdays.

Special Reports

Our Special Reports take an in-depth look at key topics within the IoT space. Download our latest reports.

Business Resources

Find the latest white papers and other resources from selected vendors.

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our audience? Access our media kit.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • IoT World Series
  • Channel Futures
  • RISC-V
  • Dark Reading
  • ITPro Today
  • Web Hosting Talk

WORKING WITH US

  • Contact
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Login/Register

FOLLOW IoT World Today ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookies Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2022 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X