What Happened in the East Coast Internet Outage?

Today, the internet for essentially the entire east coast was taken offline by a sophisticated DDoS (Distributed Denial of Services) attack.

The target, Dyn, is a company whose internet management services include DNS (Domain Name System). The DNS basically acts as the translator between domain names (ex. Website.com) and the associated stuff (IP addresses, identification, localization, network protocols, etc.) that allows the functions of the “internet” going through its servers.

What's most interesting about this type of attack that has barraged Dyn is that devices appear to have been involved,

Initial reports indicate that the attack was part of a genre of DDoS that infects Internet of Things devices (think webcams, DVRs, routers, etc.) all over the world with malware. Once infected, those Internet-connected devices become part of a botnet army, driving malicious traffic toward a given target. – Wired.com

After reading several different reporting outlet sources, I began to be curious about my phones and the devices that we use without even thinking about, on a daily basis.

Here are some helpful videos:

Protect Your Droid Device

3 Ways to Secure Your Webcam

3 Ways to Avoid Getting Your Car Hacked (7 more tips @ link)

1. Don't use your keyless remote to lock/unlock your vehicle.
2. Keyless fob? Protect it in a faraday cage (container lined in tin foil).
3. Use a  steering wheel lock.
4. For 7 more tips, click HERE.