Security experts are warning that an IoT botnet is targeting financial firms with DDoS attacks, in what many believe is the first of its kind since the notorious Mirai campaign.
The botnet has been linked to IoTroop/Reaper and just like Mirai, is comprised of a large number of unsecured TVs, DVRs, IP cameras, and home routers. According to Recorded Future, the linked malware is able to exploit a dozen vulnerabilities in these unsecured devices to hijack and conscript them and is capable of updating as new flaws are detected.
IoTroop is especially dangerous as its built using the flexible Lua engine. This allows the code to be updated on the fly, meaning existing botnets can run new attacks as soon as they’re available.
The DDoS campaign has hit three firms since January, using at least 13,000 compromised devices and peaking at 30 Gb/s.
Recorded Future claims, “Our analysis shows that the botnet involved in the first company attack was 80% comprised of compromised MikroTik routers, with the remaining 20% composed of various IoT devices ranging from vulnerable Apache and IIS web servers, to routers from Ubiquity, Cisco, and ZyXEL. We also discovered webcams, TVs, and DVRs among the 20% of IoT devices, which included products from major vendors such as MikroTik, GoAhead, Ubiquity, Linksys, TP-Link, and Dahua.”
As manufacturers continue to produce unsecure connected devices these attacks will continue to perpetuate. Cybercriminals will always look for an easy way in, and vulnerable IoT devices represent the perfect point of entry.
Defending against DDoS attacks is not an easy task, however, with these few steps, you can stay a few steps ahead of the cybercriminals before your organization becomes the next target:
Step 1: Introduce System & Device Hardening
Step 2: Monitoring is Key!
Step 3: Be on the Lookout for Botnets
Step 4: Keep an Eye on Performance Metrics and Scalability
Step 5: Have a Security Awareness Program in Place
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