Have you ever experienced unexplained slowness or disruptions in your Internet connected devices? Beware! Your devices may have been infected with bots.
Bots or sometimes called “zombies” are infected devices controlled by hackers. A network of infected devices are known as botnet and it can cause significant disruption to IoT systems.
Hackers typically use botnets to launch cyberattacks, steal data, or spread malware and ransomware. The biggest danger? Many people don’t even realize their devices are infected.
With a rise of the Internet of Things (IoT), smart home devices like security cameras and routers have become easy targets.
One of the most infamous botnets in history, Mirai, took advantage of weak IoT security and caused massive Internet disruptions.
Let’s find out more about how Mirai emerged and explore the risks it still poses today.
History of Mirai Bots
Mirai was first discovered in August 2016 by a security researcher, MalwareMustDie. It gained worldwide attention after it was used in large scale cyberattacks that took down major websites, including Twitter, Netflix, and Reddit. The attack targeted Dyn, a company that provides internet services to many popular websites.
Mirai was created by three hackers: Paras Jha, Josiah White, and Dalton Norman. Their goal was originally to attack and control Minecraft servers for financial gain. However, their botnet grew rapidly as it infected thousands of IoT devices.
In a surprising twist, the creators released Mirai’s source code online in September 2016. This allowed other cybercriminals to modify and use it for their own attacks. Since then, Mirai has evolved into many different versions, each more dangerous than the last.
What Mirai Type Bots Can Do To IoT Devices
Bots like Mirai specifically targets IoT devices that have weak security settings.
Below are just brief details of the capabilities of Mirai type bots that can cause significant disruptions to Internet connected smart devices.
Bots Scan for Vulnerable IoT Devices
Mirai bots continuously scans the Internet for IoT devices with factory default usernames and passwords.
This is why it is crucial to change the default password and username that came with your smart devices. This step is the least you can do to reduce hacking risk in your smart home. The device can be your router, security cameras, smart TVs or baby monitors, etc.
You might think that it is harmless for a hacker to gain access to your smart TV but if hackers managed to breach into one of your devices, they can silently move around your home network to disrupt or steal data from your other computer devices.
Bots Infect the IoT Devices with Malware
Once Mirai bots find a vulnerable device that they can exploit, they can use brute-force attack to log into the device.
In the context of cyberattack, brute-force means rapidly trying multiple password combinations. With automated tools, a simple password can be guessed within minutes or even seconds.
After gaining access, it installs a malware which will turn the device into a zombie bot. The zombie can then be utilized as part of a botnet.
The Bots Become Part of a Botnet
The infected device starts communicating with a centrally controlled command and control (C&C) server operated by hackers.
Updates from the command and control servers can completely change the bot’s functionality. This enables the botnet owner to use portions of the botnet for different tasks. For example, the hacker can use a portion of the botnet to steal credit card numbers, while other segments could be sending spam.
The scale of a botnet may comprise of millions of bots and the herd of bots can enable the attacker to perform large-scale cyberattacks.
Bots Can Launch Cyberattacks
Bots like Mirai are known to be deployed to execute various forms of cyberattacks which can cripple online services and cause major financial losses. Some examples are:
- Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks seek to overload a network with traffic to undermine the system’s capacity to perform regular functions. A large scale DDoS attack can severely affect the operation of a corporation, so the systems in your smart home can certainly be crippled if it is targeted by skilled cyberattackers.
- Botnets can be used to target specific applications, such as web servers or databases. By sending a flood of requests that mimic legitimate traffic, they can cause servers to crash or become unavailable.
- Spam emails are a scourge of network systems and they could be sent by machines infected with malware deployed by bots. Spam could very well include fake emails that attempt to phish for personal details that would allow hackers to gain unauthorized access into network systems.
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Mirai Bots: A Wake-Up Call For IoT Security
Threats From Mirai Type Botnet
Mirai’s ability to compromise IoT devices poses serious risks for individuals businesses.
Compromised Smart Homes
Although cybercriminals can silently linger around in your home network, there might still be some tell tale signs that indicate your network could have been compromised.
For instance, a prolonged slower than normal Internet connection may be an indication that your smart devices have been infected with a malware that is constantly sending data out to malicious servers.
You should especially beware of unauthorized surveillance if you use many security cameras for your home security. In addition, if you are concerned about data privacy, you should also reconsider storing video footage or other forms of personal data on cloud servers.
Be mindful too that a successful cyberattack can even cause your smart devices to malfunction as botnets can suck up huge amount of system resources.
Large Scale DDoS Attack
A major cyberattack may render an entire smart city to be dysfunctional if core systems are compromised.
Just imagine the chaos that would transpire when millions of city inhabitants cannot access essential public services. As we have witnessed with the recent Crowdstrike IT outage, even a temporary unforeseen disruption to IT systems can cause mayhems.
We must always bear in mind that much of the conveniences that we enjoy in modern life depend on digitized access to essential public services. This include banking, electricity, water, gas, transportation, etc. Unfortunately, the many interconnected systems in a modern society are not fail-safe.
Therefore, love or hate it, there is a cost to embracing a digital life filled with smart technology. However, how many of us can truly resist the lure of technology?
How To Mitigate Threats In Smart Home
As reiterated in my previous smart home cybersecurity post, there are some steps that smart home owners can take to ensure that their IoT system is as robust as possible to attacks.
The most common threats on smart home systems are usually eavesdropping or Denial of Service attacks. Thus, cryptographic mechanisms including encryption, authentication and replay rejection can help mitigate the threats.
It is worthwhile to know that cybercriminals rarely attack the security primitives that are difficult to penetrate. Rather, they tend to exploit the weaknesses in the implementation of the IoT system.
Hence, here are some essential security precautions that you should implement:
Change Default Passwords Immediately
As I’ve mentioned above, Mirai type bots are constantly scanning the Internet for IoT devices that are using default passwords.
Keep Devices’ Firmware Updated
Very often, the updates that are deployed to IoT devices are meant to patch security vulnerabilities. Therefore, enable automatic updates if possible.
Invest in a Secure Router
Check to make sure your router uses the latest WPA3 encryption standard. Many modern routers also come with built-in security tools that can help you detect and block botnet activities, counter DoS attacks and prevent unauthorized access.
Disable Unused Features
If you do not require remote access or cloud services for some of your devices, you should disable them to reduce potential gateways that hackers can exploit.
Create a Guest Network for Your Devices
Keeping your Internet connected devices on a separate layer in your network helps to isolate them from the main network where you store sensitive files.
Monitor for Unusual Activity in Your Devices
If your device is slow in response, frequently crashing or rebooting, check for signs of malware infection. You may also use network defense tools to help you monitor your network.
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Conclusion
The Mirai botnet was a turning point in cybersecurity, proving how vulnerable IoT devices can be when security is neglected.
Probably the only good thing that arise from the emergence of the Mirai botnet is it has prompted manufacturers to rethink IoT security practices.
You should take some precaution steps if you own smart home devices. Changing passwords, updating firmware, and securing your home network are just some of the essential steps.
Bear in mind that cyber threats like Mirai will continue to evolve, thus it is important for you to keep up with the latest developments in order to protect your smart home from cyberattacks.
