Tag Archive for: botnet

IoT botnet highlights the dangers of default passwords

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A botnet responsible for a massive DDOS (distributed denial-of-service) attack was created thanks to weak default usernames and passwords found in internet-connected cameras and DVRs.

The Mirai botnet grabbed headlines last month for taking down the website of cybersecurity reporter Brian Krebs with a huge DDOS attack. Unlike most botnets, which rely on infected PCs, this one used IoT devices to target its victims.

It turns out the botnet was specifically designed to scan the internet for poorly secured products like cameras and then access them through easily guessable passwords like “admin” or “12345.” Last Friday, the botnet’s maker released its source code, and security experts have noticed it’s built to try a list of more than 60 combinations of user names and passwords.

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Network World Security

Source code of Mirai botnet responsible for Krebs On Security DDoS released online – ZDNet

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ZDNet

Source code of Mirai botnet responsible for Krebs On Security DDoS released online
ZDNet
The botnet responsible is based on malware called Mirai. The malicious code utilizes vulnerable and compromised Internet of Things (IoT) devices to send a flood of traffic against a target. In this case, the DDoS attack included SYN Floods, GET Floods …

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A shout out to Akamai for candor in IoT botnet attack

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Akamai deserves credit for the way it disclosed why it stopped protecting the Krebs on Security Web site last week after defending it for three days from the largest botnet it had ever encountered.

It must have been embarrassing for the company to acknowledge that it was a business decision it was forced to make because of the expense and consumption of resources to keep the site up was too great.

But the company did so and addressed a more important issue, namely that the attack was generated by a botnet of Internet of Things devices, mainly cameras, routers and DVRs, according to Krebs.

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Network World Tim Greene

Largest DDoS attack ever delivered by botnet of hijacked IoT devices

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Securing the internet of things should become a major priority now that an army of compromised devices – perhaps 1 million strong – has swamped one of the industry’s top distributed denial-of-service protection services.

A giant botnet made up of hijacked internet-connected things like cameras, lightbulbs, and thermostats has launched the largest DDoS attack ever against a top security blogger, an attack so big Akamai had to cancel his account because defending it ate up too many resources.

It wasn’t that Akamai couldn’t mitigate the attack – it did so for three days – but doing so became too costly, so the company made a business decision to cut the affected customer loose, says Andy Ellis the company’s chief security officer.

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Network World Tim Greene