Cyberspace is finally, if unevenly, getting safer
In 2016, a group led by a 20-year-old student in New Jersey hacked into hundreds of thousands of “internet-of-things” (IoT) devices. It was not hard work: the devices, mostly CCTV cameras, had default passwords like “password” or “12345”. What’s more, even if a diligent operator of those devices had noticed this, the way the machines were configured meant that the default password couldn’t be changed. The hackers then diverted the flow of information from the devices to a company called Dyn, which played a key role in moving data around the internet. This “denial-of-service” attack clogged Dyn up and, for a day, users across America and Europe struggled to connect to the likes of Amazon, Twitter and Reddit.… Seguir leyendo »