https://www.iotworldtoday.com/wp-content/themes/ioti_child/assets/images/logo/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
    • Back
    • Embedded IoT World (Part of DesignCon) 2022
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
    • Back
    • Embedded IoT World (Part of DesignCon) 2022
  • newsletter
  • IIoT
  • Cities
  • Energy
  • Homes/Buildings
  • Transportation/Logistics
  • Connected Health Care
  • Retail
  • AI
  • Metaverse
  • Development
  • Security
ioti.com

Security


Mobster

How the Mirai Botnet Could Make Mobsters Out of Hackers

The rules of cybersecurity have changed after hackers shut down half the Internet last Friday with a massive IoT-fueled attack.
  • Written by Brian Buntz
  • 25th October 2016

Earlier this month, President Obama lamented that the Internet is like the Wild West. Russian hackers are meddling in the U.S. election, and no one seems able to stop them or other determined cybercriminals. But with the IoT-fueled Mirai botnet that brought down half the Internet on Friday, the Internet could become like Sicily under mob rule.

Last Friday’s attack flooded Internet performance company Dyn’s servers, peaking at one terabit per second per second. The hack caused the biggest Internet outage yet, preventing millions of people across the U.S. from accessing sites like Amazon, PayPal, Twitter, Spotify, Netflix, AirBnB, and CNN.

“With Mirai, a hacker could say: ‘hey, we took you offline. We are going to keep you offline until you start paying. That is basically just like the Mafia,” says security expert Pablos Holman, who is the keynote speaker at next week’s IoT Emerge in Chicago. “You pay us for protection and if you don’t pay, guess what, I have a cousin who is in the DDoS business.’”

Chase Cunningham, Ph.D., A10 Networks’ director of cyber operations, also agrees that such extortion hijacks are possible. Since the code for Mirai is freely available online, it is relatively simple to launch.

Already, the people launching DDoS attacks are taking a page out of the Mafia handbook in that they aggressively target anyone who they fear could reveal them. After security expert Brian Krebs wrote about an Israeli online DDoS service, his website was hit with a crippling DDoS hijack. And shortly after a Dyn researcher Doug Madory gave a talk on the subject at Nanog (video below), Dyn was hit with its own massive attack:

The person who wrote the code advertises that fact, declaring in the notes released alongside the code: “All scripts and everything are included to set up working botnet in under 1 hours. I am willing to help if you have individual questions […].”  

The author of Mirai also claims to have profited from DDoS attacks, stating: “When I first go in DDoS industry, I wasn't planning on staying in it long. I made my money, there's lots of eyes looking at IOT now, so it's time to GTFO.”

Thomas Pore, director of IT and services at Plixer, also predicts that cybercriminals could begin using Mirai and other DDoS hijacks to extort their victims. “If they have the botnet up and running, they don’t need to break into anything. They just need to take out the legs that hold everything up. Clearly, the attack on Friday showed that you can take out a huge resource and it is going to affect a lot of people.”

The threat of ransomware, which locks computers until a sum or money is paid, has been growing exponentially in recent years. Mirai technology could give cybercriminals a new tool to conduct hijacks for ransom on a bigger scale. 

Some hackers were already threatening to deploy botnets as extortion before Mirai hit. 

And evidence exists that hackers have made money off of similar hijacks. A DDoS database known as vDOS apparently raked in $600,000 in two years, according to Brian Krebs, whose blog was the victim of the first large Mirai attack.

In addition, ads are popping up on underground websites promising to rent access to one of the largest IoT botnets in the world. For just $7,500, anyone can have access to 100,000 IoT bots, according to the ad discovered by Forbes. The seller claims the bots can drive one terabit of data per second of traffic, which amounts to 128 gigabytes. 

Future DDoS hacks could be more than a nuisance. Cybercriminals could launch targeted DDoS hijacks that threaten freedom of speech. It is relatively simple for a DDoS attack to bring down a website hosting editorial content. Or hackers could attack a hospital’s Internet connection and demand payment before they switch it back on. They could do the same thing with 911 services. Late last month, researchers at Cyber-Security Research Center in Israel reported that exploiting about 6000 smartphones would be enough to cripple 911 in a U.S. state. Targeting 200,000 smartphones could theoretically cripple the nation's 911 service, they say.

In any event, Mirai and other types of DDoS attacks give the lone hackers toiling away in a basement somewhere enormous power to launch attacks that cause financial damage. Brian Krebs estimated that it will cost a DNS service provider between $100,000 and $300,000 per year to protect itself from similar hicacks to the one he faced in September. The company Akamai Technologies, the content delivery network that that hosted Krebs’ blog, broke ties with him after that attack. Tom Leighton, co-founder and CEO of Akamai, explained the break with Krebs, telling the Boston Globe that such attacks, if sustained, could cost the company millions of dollars each year to battle.

For now, Google has offered to host the krebsonsecurity.com site under its Project Shield, which was designed to protect news, human rights, and elections monitoring sites. But less fortunate websites could go dark when facing DDoS-driven traffic surges.

Developers of IoT devices will likely face growing scrutiny from their customers about security. In the aftermath of Friday's hack, the Chinese electronic firm Hangzhou XiongMai, whose webcams were used in the Mirai breach, has already announced a plan to recall some of its connected devices.

“I am hoping it is a wake-up call, but I am sure it will be like most other things in security where people freak out about it and then move onto the next issue. I am sure we will see more of these attacks in the near future,” says Chase Cunningham, Ph.D., who is A10 Networks’ director of cyber operations. “I am interested to see what happens with the election coming up. I think we are probably due to see some big DDoS events specific to the election.” Given the alarming number of cybersecurity breaches in 2016, Cunningham may be proven correct.

Tags: Article Security Technologies

Related


  • IoT Security Firm to Acquire Medical Security Startup
    Claroty is set to acquire Medigate to grow its foothold in securing the Internet of Medical Things
  • Ransomware Attack Could Impact Paychecks
    The Kronos ransomware attack affected the company’s private cloud service over the weekend, knocking it offline just before the holidays
  • Image shows an abstract digital big data concept.
    BotenaGo Malware Targets Millions of IoT Devices
    AT&T Alien Labs identified the malware that has left millions of IoT devices exposed.
  • IoT Startup Raises $10M
    Platform aims to bolster network security with automated device configurations and visibility.

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.

Related Content

  • IoT Device Security at the Edge Poses Unique Challenges
  • Zero-Trust Security for IoT: Establishing Rigorous Device Defenses
  • AI Ups the Ante for IoT Cybersecurity
  • Protecting Your Network Against Ripple20 Vulnerabilities

Roundups

View all

IoT Product Roundup: PTC, Nokia, Arm and More

19th May 2022

IoT Deals, Partnerships Roundup: Intel, Nauto, Helium and more

14th May 2022

IoT Product Roundup: Amazon, Synaptics, Urban Control and More

27th April 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
Dylan Kennedy of EMQ

Embedded IoT World 2022: Dylan Kennedy of EMQ

Dylan Kennedy, EMQ’s VP of global operations, sat down with Chuck Martin at Embedded IoT World 2022.

Embedded IoT World 2022: Omdia’s Sang Oh Talks Vehicle Chip Shortage

Omdia’s automotive semiconductor analyst sits down with Chuck Martin at this year’s event

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

Clearview AI has been fined $9.4 million for collecting images of people from social media platforms to add to its… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

24th May 2022
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

Swiss-startup Airyacht is developing an eponymously named vehicle that it says will take the luxury-yacht experienc… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

23rd May 2022
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

@Tesla’s #Autopilot being investigated once again following fatal crash in Newport Beach, California. iotworldtoday.com/2022/05/23/tes…

23rd May 2022
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

A new Kansas law will enable #driverless deliveries from @Walmart and its partner @Gatik_AI. #AVs… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

23rd May 2022
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

Access a world of opportunity in 2022 with @IoTWorldToday ➡️ Now is time to unlock ROI, by accessing a global com… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

23rd May 2022
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

3D Home Printer to Build 72 Residences for National Homebuilder dlvr.it/SQhWSF https://t.co/XJOs70DqzH

19th May 2022
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

Microsoft Ramping up Cybersecurity Service Offerings dlvr.it/SQhPR0 https://t.co/nYzaDRnyVY

19th May 2022
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

IoT Product Roundup: PTC, Nokia, Arm and More dlvr.it/SQhNNF https://t.co/ZApdw3RHdu

19th May 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