This talk will cover the ongoing battle being waged is leveraging insecure Linux-based Internet of Things (IoT) devices. BrickerBot is an example of a recent malware strain attacking connected devices and causing them to “brick,” making an electronic device completely useless in a permanent denial-of-service (PDoS) attack.

Additionally, the Mirai botnet consisted of connected printers, IP cameras, residential gateways, and baby monitors that flooded DNS servers. Mirai was behind the largest DDoS attack of its kind ever in October 2016, with an estimated throughput of 1.2 terabits per second. It leveraged these enslaved devices to bring down large portions of the internet, including services such as Netflix, GitHub, HBO, Amazon, Reddit, Twitter, and DIRECTV. BrickerBot’s goal appears to counter Mirai’s: Bricking insecure Linux devices so that malware such as Mirai can’t subjugate these devices in another DDoS attack. We will take an in-depth look at the anatomy of the attack.

We will then dive into basic some security hardening principles which would have helped protect against many of these attacks. Some of the fundamental security concepts we will cover include:

Closing unused open network ports Intrusion detection systems Enforcing password complexity and policies Removing unnecessary services Frequent software updates to fix bugs and patch security vulnerabilities