Last week, many websites and apps were severely compromised, especially on the East Coast. Apps like Twitter, Reddit, Spotify, AirBnB, and Netflix slowed to a crawl or were shut down altogether. A DDoS attack was launched against Dyn, a New Hampshire company that provides DNS routing.
Screen Shot by Geek For Hire, Inc.
What did you just say?
- DDoS = A “Distributed Denial of Service” occurs when hundreds of thousands of messages are sent to specific internet addresses with the intent to overload that service and shut it down. (In this case, the intent was to take down Dyn in order to affect many websites and not just one.)
- DNS = The Internet’s Domain Name System translates the URL’s we enter, like www.google.com, into “the numerical IP addresses needed for the purpose of locating and identifying computer services and devices.” (From wikipedia)
In the past, most DDoS attacks were focused on a particular website. Last Friday, the attack was focused on a company which the NY Times calls “one of the Internet’s giant switchboards”, which had a devastating impact.
So, how is this MY fault?
Do you have a surveillance camera on your front door? A wireless printer? A “smart” refrigerator”? All of these are connected to the internet with their own numerical IP address. The “bad guys” can run through a list of IP address to see which addresses can easily be compromised. Once they’ve identified these devices, they can use them to add to their arsenal to send the messages that create the attack.
I still don’t get it. How is this MY fault?
Do you use a password on all of your internet connected devices? Is it secure? A password of “admin”, “123456”, or “password” is NOT secure! Have you ever been out looking for free WiFi, and something like “HP-M475-5E3F78” was presented as an available WiFi that you could connect to? That is what happens when someone does not put a password on their printer. There are literally millions of WiFi connected devices in the US. How many of those are vulnerable to participating in these types of attacks?
Please make it a point to use a secure password on all of your internet connected devices. Change it today!
Chris Eddy of Geek For Hire, Inc. has been providing computer service to families and small businesses with Mac’s and PC’s for the past fourteen years. His company is highly rated by both the BBB (Better Business Bureau) and by Angie’s List. You can find more on our website. Geek For Hire, Inc. provides onsite service (Tier 3) to the Denver / Boulder / Front Range area and remote service throughout North America.
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