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Webcams Used to Attack Reddit and Twitter Recalled

posted by martyb on Tuesday October 25 2016, @12:22PM   Printer-friendly
from the rein-in-the-bots dept.

Phoenix666 writes:

Home webcams that were hijacked to help knock popular websites offline last week are being recalled in the US.

Chinese electronics firm Hangzhou Xiongmai issued the recall soon after its cameras were identified as aiding the massive web attacks.

They made access to popular websites, such as Reddit, Twitter, Spotify and many other sites, intermittent.

Security experts said easy-to-guess default passwords, used on Xiongmai webcams, aided the hijacking.

The web attack enrolled thousands of devices that make up the internet of things - smart devices used to oversee homes and which can be controlled remotely.

Will we go through this over and over with toasters, refrigerators, and every other connected appliance?

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  • (Score: 1) by tftp on Wednesday October 26 2016, @07:11AM

    by tftp (806) on Wednesday October 26 2016, @07:11AM (#418885) Homepage

    They aren't taking responsibility for the security of their products

    It is much cheaper to change the name and the logo of the company - from one generic Chinese combination of words to another. It's amazing how many products from China come from no-name, fly-by-night manufacturers. But they are cheap! And that's why they are selling so well.

    What does it cost to change the name and the logo? Perhaps, nothing at all, besides a small fee to the artist. Layers upon layers of companies may produce and sell and resell products, and we see the logo only of the last reseller. Those are dime a dozen. As they keep their network of contacts, they can change the company every few months if they have to. In practice, it takes much longer to develop a full-blown PR disaster. They probably have a dozen new companies in the filing cabinet, ready to go on a minute's notice.

    Not all Chinese companies are fly-by-night, but many are. It just makes sense. The US market, hungry for cheap glitter, will swallow whatever you throw at it, as long as it is cheap. A new fool is born every millisecond.