The BBC has just broken the news that TalkTalk and Post Office broadband customers have had their online access cut by an attack targeting certain types of internet routers. A spokeswoman for the Post Office told the BBC that the problem began on Sunday and had affected about 100,000 of its customers. Talk Talk also confirmed that some of its customers had been affected, and it was working on a fix. It is not yet known who is responsible for the attack. IT security experts from Positive Technologies, NSFOCUS, Varonis, Lieberman Software and ESET commented below.
Alex Mathews, EMEA Technical Manager at Positive Technologies:
“It’s hard to say without specifics of the attack, but preventability depends on the type of vulnerability used. If it is similar to Mirai, abusing default router passwords, it is a relatively straightforward fix. However, if this was caused by an unknown vulnerability in the router firmware or communication protocols, then it is a far more complex issue. Testing should be done by device manufacturers before they are released onto the market.”
Positive Technologies also released a piece of research today into how people view companies that have been hacked. You can read more about it here: https://www.ptsecurity.com/ww-en/wwa/news/119863/
Stephen Gates, Chief Research Intelligence Analyst at NSFOCUS:
Andy Green, Senior Technical Specialist at Varonis:
Not much!
Unfortunately, default-itis still plagues large organisations. As recently as 2014, the Verizon DBIR specifically noted that for POS-based attacks, the hackers typically scanned for public ports and then guessed for weak passwords on the PoS server or device – either ones that were never changed or were created for convenience, “admin1234”. This is exactly the technique used in the Mirai botnet attack against the IoT cameras.
Even if hackers use other methods to get inside a corporate network — phishing, most likely — they can still take advantage of internal enterprise software in which defaults accounts were never changed.
For those organisations who think that the Mirai botnet incident has nothing to with them, or have to convince their board of this, here are two points to consider.
- The lesson of the Mirai botnet attack is that the perimeter will always have leaks. For argument’s sake, even if you overlook phishing scenarios, there will continue to be vulnerabilities and holes in routers, network devices, and other core infrastructure that allow hackers to get inside.
- Human nature tells us that IT will also continue to experience default-itis. Enterprise software is complicated. IT is often under pressure to quickly get apps and systems to work. As a result, default accounts and weak passwords that were set for reasons of convenience — thinking that users will change the passwords later — will always be an issue for organisations.
You have to plan for attackers breaching the first line of defences, and therefore have in place security controls to monitor and detect intruders.
In a way, we should be thankful for the “script kiddies” who launched the Mirai botnet DDoS attack: it’s a great lesson for showing that companies should be looking inward, not at the perimeter, in planning their data security and risk mitigation programs.”
Jonathan Sander, VP of Product Strategy at Lieberman Software:
Mark James, IT Security Specialist at ESET:
Ensuring your home router is on the latest version of its firmware and that the default credentials are changed as soon as possible is of utmost importance in keeping you and your data safe. If you find your router is too old to be updated then ideally you should consider a newer one that is being maintained. The trouble is, as it’s often an “install and forget” device gathering dust on a shelf or even in a cupboard, it’s usually last on the list of devices being monitored. Ideally you should check all your internet enabled devices to see if they have been or could be updated and proceed with utmost urgency if found to be out of date. You could of course look for security software that would scan your connected devices at home and check to see if they are able to be compromised.”