Security News > 2020 > April > New botnet attack "puts other IoT botnets to shame"

Bitdefender warns against this dangerous new IoT "Dark nexus" attack that is innovative and cheap for attackers to acquire.

"Our analysis has determined that, although dark nexus reuses some Qbot and Mirai code, its core modules are mostly original," Bitdefender said in a 22-page white paper released April 8 about the attacks, "New dark nexus IoT Botnet Puts Others to Shame." While some of its features may be shared with previously known IoT botnets, the way some of its modules have been developed makes dark nexus significantly more potent and robust, the report said.

The dark nexus botnet, which comprises at least 1,352 bots, apparently was developed by a known botnet author who has been selling DDoS services and botnet code for years online to other attackers for profit.

Bogdan Botezatu, director of threat research and reporting for Bitdefender, said that DDoS attacks launched by this botnet can allow attackers to control hijacked devices by asking all the compromised devices in the botnet to simultaneously visit a web page or web service, which can crush that server under the workload. "The victims won't even be aware that their devices are used as weapons against innocuous targets on the internet, even if the results might be catastrophic for victims or for the proper functioning of the internet," Botezatu said.

"Unfortunately, because most IoT vendors see cybersecurity as an afterthought, IoT botnets continue to thrive, grow, and impact organizations, creating significant loss of operation and downtime," he said.

News URL

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/new-botnet-attack-puts-other-iot-botnets-to-shame/#ftag=RSS56d97e7