SonicWall researchers assessed that hackers currently are exploiting one of the ten vulnerabilities to launch DDoS attacks, which is a command injection bug indexed as CVE-2019-7256 with a severity score of 10/10.
But while having your smart building door system launch DDoS attacks on Steam or the PlayStation Network is one issue, a bigger threat is that these vulnerable systems can also be used as entry points into an organization's internal networks.
Hackers exploiting vulnerability in smart doors to launch DDoS attacks
In August last year, Microsoft reported that it observed a Russian state-sponsored hacking crew using Internet of Things (IoT) smart devices as launching points for other attacks on corporate networks.
November 2022. Iranian government-sponsored hackers compromised the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, exploiting the log4shell vulnerability as early as February 2022. After breaching the network, hackers installed cryptocurrency-mining software and deployed malware to obtain sensitive data.
February 2022. A U.N. report claimed that North Korea hackers stole more than $50 million between 2020 and mid-2021 from three cryptocurrency exchanges. The report also added that in 2021 that amount likely increased, as the DPRK launched 7 attacks on cryptocurrency platforms to help fund their nuclear program in the face of a significant sanctions regime.
Worms target vulnerabilities in operating systems to install themselves into networks. They may gain access in several ways: through backdoors built into software, through unintentional software vulnerabilities, or through flash drives. Once in place, worms can be used by malicious actors to launch DDoS attacks, steal sensitive data, or conduct ransomware attacks.
PCMag has partnered with the Internet of Things security team at Bitdefender to answer just that sort of question. Bitdefender's hacking team puts popular smart home devices to the test, looking for security holes that hackers could misuse. On discovering a problem, the team contacts the manufacturer, to give it time for a fix before disclosing the vulnerability. In the past, Ring has fixed a security problem with one of its smart doorbells that would have allowed a patient hacker to gain full access to the Wi-Fi network to which the device was connected. Belkin likewise fixed a similar problem with its WeMo Smart Plug. When consumers get a more secure product, everybody wins.
He went on to point out some specific scenarios. Network printers communicate without encryption or authentication, so an attacker could capture and exfiltrate any documents you print. If you use a local Network Attached Storage (NAS) device for backups, chances are good it receives unprotected files for backup, once again giving the attacker full access. By monitoring the communications between IoT devices and other devices on the network, a hacker could gain control of those devices. Balan concluded, "Combining the comfort and safety you feel on your home private network with hacking techniques, hackers will have an easier time trying to social engineer users and steal their online credentials, launch phishing attacks and so on."
With such large DDoS attacks now possible, hackers are taking advantage of the disruption caused to levy multi-vector attacks. While companies fight against one threat vector, they will be launching another against them.
In a network attack, attackers are focused on penetrating the corporate network perimeter and gaining access to internal systems. Very often, once inside attackers will combine other types of attacks, for example compromising an endpoint, spreading malware or exploiting a vulnerability in a system within the network.
The rest of the paper is structured as follows: Section 2 presents DDoS attacks on mobile devices (Android, Symbian, Palm, and iPhone) on smartphone platforms. Section 3 presents the basics of IRC messaging system and its vulnerabilities. In Section 4, we present our game theoretic model to analyze and evaluate the effect of DDoS attack on IRC. Section 5 presents the testbed and experimentation of launching the DDoS attack. The paper is concluded in Section 6 while highlighting the future work.
May be a design error or an opportunity/vulnerability for the attacker, PIN code message of IRC messenger can be modified, simply by sending an HTTPs verification request to the server. This vulnerability is exploited by the hackers for launching spam attack.
By 2000, the internet had spread throughout the world, and hackers frequently targeted servers and public websites. Cybercriminals quickly learned how to exploit internet vulnerabilities and developed more damaging attacks. They could infect PCs, steal information, send spam, create phishing pages, and manage entire networks of computers to launch distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. Computer worms spread exponentially; there were more than 1 million of them by the mid 2000s.11
The electrical systems of smart buildings and entire municipalities are increasingly under the control of IoT devices.11 Russia has launched cyberattacks against power stations in Kiev, Ukraine, twice knocking out power to the city. The MADIoT attack12 provides an avenue for blowing power grids by synchronously switching on and off high wattage IoT devices connected to them.13
Updated on 3rd Nov 2021 12:08 in General, IoT, SmartWithout a doubt, having a connected home not only simplifies your life but also makes it more efficient. Thanks to advancements in technology, homeowners can use IoT (Internet of Things) to turn an ordinary house into a smart home. As of November 2020, there are more than 48 million smart homes in the U.S., with millions of others in other parts of the world. These numbers can only grow as more people adopt smart living, with an estimate of more than 77 million smart homes in the U.S. by 2025.The exponential growth of the number of smart homes comes with security concerns, especially cybersecurity risks. There has been an increasing concern over the security of a smart home, with cases of identity theft, digital privacy, and data breaches on the rise. Smart homes make use of smart devices connected through the internet. These can include kitchen appliances, entertainment, household appliances, personal gadgets, light bulbs, and home security systems. With these devices, you can automatically turn lights on and off without being home, open or close doors, and even schedule alerts for reminders.While smart home devices deliver a sense of comfort and security, is it possible to use them risk-free? Here is everything you need to know about securing your smart home and smart devices. Smart home device security risksExploitation of passwordsWhile millions of people may own intelligent homes, only a tiny fraction of these owners take password protection seriously. More often than not, people use weak passwords for their smart home hub, which connects all the smart devices in the home.This security lapse makes it easy for a hacker to gain access to all the devices in your home if they hack into the smart home hub. Once hacked, the attacker can take control of all the devices in your home, using this opportunity to wreak havoc in your home.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined')ez_ad_units.push([[336,280],'wltd_org-medrectangle-3','ezslot_10',320,'0','0']);__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-wltd_org-medrectangle-3-0');TrackingWhile most people trust their smart home devices to keep their information secure, a simple hack can give hackers access to your location information down to the street name and house number. This is usually done through phishing attempts where a hacker sends a malicious link to a user on the smart home network. Clicking on the malicious link compromises the entire smart home network.Home intrusionHackers can exploit security devices like surveillance cameras and smart door locks to gain access to your home. Most hackers take advantage of security loopholes like the lack of data encryption for smart doorbells, making them an easy target.Suppose there are security loopholes in your security devices. In that case, hackers can exploit this vulnerability to disable cameras, unlock your doors and burglarize your home, or even lock you out of your own home.Using unsecured IoT devicesSometimes, smart home devices are rushed to the market by companies trying to remain relevant without ensuring security concerns about the device have been addressed. Unfortunately, using a smart device with security vulnerabilities from the manufacturer opens your home network to many security issues, including hacking and malware deployment. In most cases, cheap devices are also the ones that have the highest risk of having security issues out of the box. This is because security testing adds to the cost of the device and, as such, is usually lackluster or straight up non-existent.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined')ez_ad_units.push([[250,250],'wltd_org-medrectangle-4','ezslot_2',120,'0','0']);__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-wltd_org-medrectangle-4-0');Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) and Permanent denial of Service (PDoS)A DDoS attack is used to render a network of machine resources unavailable to the user by disrupting service to the internet temporarily or indefinitely. DDoS attacks are on the rise in smart homes because of the lack of proper security protocols for IoT devices. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined')ez_ad_units.push([[250,250],'wltd_org-box-4','ezslot_4',121,'0','0']);__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-wltd_org-box-4-0');Also referred to as phlashing, a PDoS attack is a type of cyberattack that causes damage to a device, sometimes beyond the point of repair, forcing the owner to replace the device or reinstall hardware. For example, BrickerBot is a common PDoS attack used to exploit IoT home devices with weak security passwords.How to secure smart home devices The best way to secure your smart home is to secure your smart devices. In many cases, they are directly responsible for the security of your home, such as the case with a smart lock or smart alarm system. You can imagine that all your security will be pretty useless if an attacker manages to get into your network!if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined')ez_ad_units.push([[250,250],'wltd_org-banner-1','ezslot_5',122,'0','0']);__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-wltd_org-banner-1-0');Reinforce your Wi-Fi password securityUsing a secure password for your Wi-Fi is the most basic form of internet security. If you use a weak password for your Wi-Fi network, you should consider changing it to something harder to crack. The best password should be at least eight characters long with numbers, letters, and special symbols. Having a strong Wi-Fi password will ensure every device connected to the Wi-Fi network is protected. There are, unfortunately, still ways for your network to be hacked, as discussed here. As such, it's essential to keep in mind that the security provided by Wi-Fi is limited.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined')ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'wltd_org-large-leaderboard-2','ezslot_6',123,'0','0']);__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-wltd_org-large-leaderboard-2-0');Keep your IoT devices software updated.Whenever a smart device software manufacturer notices a flaw in the software, they develop a security patch to counter the vulnerability. This patch is made available in the form of a software update sent out to device owners to install. Failing to update the device with the latest software opens it up to possible attacks by hackers taking advantage of the security flaw. 2ff7e9595c
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