[192427] in North American Network Operators' Group
RE: Spitballing IoT Security
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (bzs@TheWorld.com)
Thu Oct 27 23:59:21 2016
X-Original-To: nanog@nanog.org
Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2016 23:59:10 -0400
From: bzs@TheWorld.com
To: "nanog\@nanog.org" <nanog@nanog.org>
In-Reply-To: <331654658bda924ab06f3eb56f62145c@mail.dessus.com>
Errors-To: nanog-bounces@nanog.org
I suppose someone could modify this Mirai virus to instead inject
antivirus software. I know, illegal.
What would the manufacturers' response be if this virus had instead
just shut down, possibly in some cases physically damaged the devices
or otherwise caused them to cease functioning ever again (wiped all
their software or broke their bootability), rather than just hijacked
them for a while?
One manufacturer agreed that half a million of their devices were
involved in the attacks in a recent press release. And they apologize.
What if half a million of their devices just suddenly stopped working,
forever?
I suspect that would require a somewhat more expensive response.
They have to be thinking that sort of thing or else they're being
pretty dumb.
--
-Barry Shein
Software Tool & Die | bzs@TheWorld.com | http://www.TheWorld.com
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