It was waiting to happen. One of the earliest malicious attacks against the Internet of Things (IoT) has been uncovered.
A security Service-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider, the US-based Proofpoint, Inc. claims to have uncovered what may be the first proven Internet of Things (IoT)-based cyberattack involving conventional household “smart” appliances. The global attack targetted over 750,000 malicious email communications coming from more than 100,000 everyday consumer gadgets such as home-networking routers, connected multi-media centers, televisions and at least one refrigerator that had been compromised and used as a platform to launch attacks. Yes, you read right, a fridge was sending out spam, even malicious emails.
Proofpoint explained in a statement that cyber criminals had begun to commandeer home routers, smart appliances and other components of the IoT and transform them into “thingbots” to carry out the same type of malicious activity. Cyber criminals intent on stealing individual identities and infiltrating enterprise IT systems hade found “a target-rich environment” in these poorly protected internet connected devices that were more attractive and easier to infect and control than PC, laptops, or tablets.
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The attack that Proofpoint observed and profiled occurred between December 23, 2013 and January 6, 2014, and featured waves of malicious email, typically sent in bursts of 100,000, three times per day, targeting Enterprises and individuals worldwide. More than 25 percent of the volume was sent by things that were not conventional laptops, desktop computers or mobile devices; instead, the emails were sent by everyday consumer gadgets such as compromised home-networking routers, connected multi-media centers, televisions and at least one refrigerator. No more than 10 emails were initiated from any single IP address, making the attack difficult to block based on location – and in many cases, the devices had not been subject to a sophisticated compromise; instead, misconfiguration and the use of default passwords left the devices completely exposed on public networks, available for takeover and use.
“Bot-nets are already a major security concern and the emergence of thingbots may make the situation much worse” said David Knight, General Manager of Proofpoint’s Information Security division. “Many of these devices are poorly protected at best and consumers have virtually no way to detect or fix infections when they do occur. Enterprises may find distributed attacks increasing as more and more of these devices come on-line and attackers find additional ways to exploit them.”
While IT experts have long predicted security risks associated with the rapidly proliferating Internet of Things (IoT), this is the first time the industry has reported actual proof of such a cyber attack involving common appliances. Obviously, this the start of a new Online worry since IoT includes every device that is connected to the Internet – from home automation products including smart thermostats, security cameras, refrigerators, microwaves, home entertainment devices like TVs, gaming consoles to smart retail shelves. IDC had earlier predicted that more than 200 billion things will be connected via the Internet by 2020.
The problem is that IoT devices are typically not protected by the anti-spam and anti-virus infrastructures available to organisations and individual consumers, nor are they routinely monitored by dedicated IT teams or alerting software to receive patches to address new security issues as they arise. The result is that Enterprises can’t expect IoT-based attacks to be resolved at the source; instead, preparations must be made for the inevitable increase in highly distributed attacks, phish in employee inboxes, and clicks on malicious links.
Cybercriminals, thus, can use people’s homes’ routers, televisions and even a Net connected refrigerator to launch large-scale and distributed attacks. Only a few vendors are taking the necessary steps to protect against this threat.
Image Credit: © Jyothi | Dreamstime Stock Photos
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