A Cyber Attack on a computer network of an American University made all internet connected devices of the educational institution search for seafood in nearby restaurants. The said Distributed Denial of Service was so intense that it immediately slowed down and eventually brought down the entire network.
NOTE- When abnormal traffic hits a computer network it leads to “Distributed Denial of Service or DDoS attack.
When the IT staff of the educational institution started a probe it discovered that the huge amounts of abnormal traffic on the network was a result of a malicious software. It was found that more than 5,000 objects connected to the web network of the university were infected by the malicious code. This includes vending machines, lamp posts, access control systems, and VoIP services. Media reports say that the malware infected all connected objects- technically called as Internet of Things.
As per the initial inquiry made by the IT staff, the objects which were infected with the malicious code were running on the default passwords that hadn’t been changed.
What’s amazing in this whole cyber saga is that the web connected devices started searching for seafood which is available in the nearby restaurants all at a time.
Details on why hackers resorted to such an unusual method of DDoS Attack are awaited.
The above said the report is available as the latest Verizon Data Breach Digest and stresses on the fact of IoT Calamity.
In recent times, Internet of Things or the liking to connect all devices to a network has increased to a large extent all around the world.
The Data Breach report compiled by Verizon specifically highlights the fact that if left unsecured, Internet of Things can do more harm than good.
What do you say…?
Please share your mind through the comments section below.
