Dive Brief:
- "Unsophisticated actors" are suspected of using the Mirai Internet of Things botnet to target both Presidential nominees Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton websites over the last two days, according to Flashpoint.
- Flashpoint said it observed four, 30-second HTTP Layer 7 attacks on both websites on Nov. 6 and 7. There were no reported outages.
- Flashpoint analysts do not believe the attacks were intended to cause interference in the presidential election.
Dive Insight:
Flashpoint researchers say the Mirai botnet used in the massive DDoS attack on Dyn last month has since been broken into smaller botnets, leading to the "proliferation of actors exploiting the botnet’s devices." One of these smaller botnets is suspected in the attacks on the Trump and Clinton campaign websites.
The botnet code was recently open sourced, which has allowed others, such as amateur hackers, to target organizations to try and disrupt services.
DDoS attacks stemming from compromised IoT devices shows the advanced capabilities malicious actors have when targeting networks. Businesses may want to ensure they are fully backed up and rely on multiple providers to protect their data and services in case additional large DDoS attacks occur.
