Insights
Daubenspeck and Associates: Cybersecurity and Mirai Botnet
On October 21st, 2016, a type of malware known as a botnet was able to successfully disrupt many of the internet’s most recognizable brands, including Amazon, Netflix, Paypal, and Twitter.
The Mirai attack, which Symantec called “just the beginning,” is a stark illustration of the “Internet of Things” (IoT) as a dangerous new frontier for cybersecurity. In the coming years, businesses will increasingly rely on IoT technology to spur advances in analytics, automation, and other value-generating processes.
According to Daubenspeck and Associates, weak security is endemic to the internet of things, an expansive term that refers to any object with functions that can be controlled or monitored through a network. It includes a range of technology, from self-driving vehicles to sensor-filled “smart concrete”, and is often divided into sub-sectors such as the “industrial internet of things,” which has become important to manufacturing. Catastrophic levels of vulnerability will enter the economy if significant security improvements are not made to this rapidly growing industry.