The webcams were used by hackers to disrupt operations of major websites such as PayPal and Twitter. (Photo : Getty Images)
Hackers unleashed on Friday a large distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack on the servers of Dyn, a major DNS host. It resulted in closure of half of the internet in the U.S., affecting websites such as Twitter, Spotify and Reddit.
Dyns said it was the third wave of attacks which are well planned and executed. It came from millions of IP addresses at the same time, said the major DNS host which is investigating another attack that caused similar massive outages on Saturday morning, Gizmodo reported.
Other affected websites by the DDoS include Amazon, Yelp, Netflix and The New York Times. According to Roland Dobbins, principal engineer at Arbor Networks, a significant part of the DDoS attack traffic that targets Dyn is sourced from compromised IoT devices which participate in Mirai botnets.
Forbes explained that kind of botnet is made up of thousands of Internet-connected devices – such as unsecure routers, DVR machines and cameras – proliferating in the wave of Internet of Things vulnerable to simple hacks. It provides to hackers access to a vast network of computing device which generates massive volumes to traffic, the key ingredient to DDoS attacks.
Past DDoS attacks had botnets with more than 25,000 cameras used in attacks often originating in Asia, particularly China, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam. Almost half of the camera bots used in the recent DDoS attack came apparently from one camera manufacturer in China.
The outages also affected Europe. Based on feedback from Gizmodo readers, the DDoS attack affected 85 websites, including CNN, HBO Now, PayPal, Pinterest, Fox News, Wall Street Journal, BBC and Fortune.
The Department of Homeland Security was monitoring the DDoS, said Josh Earnest, White House press secretary. Hacker group Anonymous appears to be behind the attack, based on a tweet from OHOUR1, a Twitter account linked with Anonymous, which tweeted, “When you put all the Hackers in the world together we are five times the size of the NSA do that math!”
