Mirai botnet code surfaces online to expand IoT threats

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IoT security

Mirai botnet IoT malware

The source code of infamous Mirai botnet that recently brought a notable 620 Gbps denial-of-service (DDoS) attack is now live online. This new development could soon enlighten an easy way to attackers to hack Internet of Things (IoT) devices and directly affect data bandwidth for several users.

Security research journalist Brain Krebs of Krebs on Security first reported the release of Mirai code. “The leak of the source code was announced Friday on the English-language hacking community Hackforums,” wrote Krebs in a blog post.

Emerged publicly last month, Mirai mainly targets Linux-based IoT devices. It transforms connected devices into bots and then forces them to report to a central control server, without any knowledge of end users. This process enables attackers to ultimately launch DDoS attacks and make popular websites offline within a few seconds.

The user who has released the code of Mirai malware stated that the notorious development comes in response to increased scrutiny from the security industry. However, it seems to bring severe issues for netizens. Anyone can now use available the Mirai code to build IoT botnets and develop DDoS attacks.

“Publishing the code online for all to see and download ensures that the code’s original authors are not the only ones found possessing it if and when the authorities come knocking with search warrants,” Krebs wrote.

Mirai is not the only malware that is specifically spotting IoT devices. Some other similar threats also exist in the market. However, the adoption of the open source approach could bring some horrible experiences in the growth of machine-to-machine communication model.

3 COMMENTS

  1. […] As first spotted by MalwareMustDie blog, the newly emerged malware is loaded on IoT devices that lack preliminary security measures. It was first detected in May and a recent iteration was detected in September via Mirai. […]

  2. […] to Mirai that resulted in a notable 620 Gbps of denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, the BrickerBot PDoS attack reportedly used Telnet brute force vector to breach the devices. It […]

  3. […] systematic weaknesses in Linux-powered IoT devices. The botnet developers are moving towards Linux for the flexibility and openness, but it is also resulting in rapid growth. Linux variants and their attacks tend to target certain […]

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