Digital Transformation Through Agile Delivery
IT Agility AbilityTM
Digital Transformation Through Agile Delivery
IT Agility AbilityTM

Cyber Insecurity of the Internet of Things

By . December 20, 2018
Last Friday sites such as Google, Netflix, Twitter and Paypal crashed as a result of a massive DDOS attack on the servers of Dyn a company that controls many of the internet’s DNS servers.
Dyn estimated that the attack had involved “100,000 malicious endpoints”, and the company, which is still investigating the attack, said there had been reports of an extraordinary attack strength of 1.2Tbps.How did hackers gain access to 100,000 IoT Devices?IoT devices such as web-enabled security cameras, fridges, ovens and TVs are notoriously easy to hack. All devices that are connected to the internet have an IP address. If something has an IP address it can be found on Google. Once a hacker has the IP address of a device they can attempt to break in, usually with the products default password. How many devices do you think have the username ‘Admin’ and password ‘admin’! Once hackers have access to your device they can add to their botnet.So who’s to blame? The manufacturer, or the consumer for not changing default passwords? Whilst changing the password on your connected devices won’t make them completely hack proof it certainly makes the process of gaining access more difficult.The attack on Dyn was a massive wake-up call for everyone. More is needs to be done to make these ‘Smart’ devices secure. 

- Niall

For more information on the cyber security market, contact Niall Gibson

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