For Second Time, IoT Devices Leveraged in Major DDoS Attack
Internet users looking for The New York Times and a list of other sites, including Netflix and Reddit, were served blank screens for a time on Friday. Dyn, the Internet infrastructure company headquartered in New Hampshire that provides Domain Name System (DNS) services to those and many other websites, had been the victim of a massive Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack. This is one of two large DDoS attacks that occurred within the past month and were caused by Mirai, malware that was designed specifically to leverage Internet of Things devices with poorly protected passwords. In September 2016, the same malware—which the hackers later made available to other hackers by posting it online—was used in an attempt to take down KrebsOnSecurity.com, the website of Brian Krebs, an investigative reporter who covers cybersecurity.
Dyn says it has fully recovered from the attack, but that the parties behind the attack have not been discovered. For a post about the attack, however, Krebs spoke with Allison Nixon, director of research at Flashpoint, a security research firm, who said Friday’s attack involved mainly compromised DVRs and IP cameras made by Chinese hi-tech company XiongMai Technologies, which makes components sold to vendors who use them in consumer-facing products.
Krebs wrote:”…many of these products from XiongMai and other makers of inexpensive, mass-produced IoT devices are essentially unfixable, and will remain a danger to others unless and until they are completely unplugged from the Internet. That’s because while many of these devices allow users to change the default usernames and passwords on a Web-based administration panel that ships with the products, those machines can still be reached via more obscure, less user-friendly communications services called ‘Telnet’ and ‘SSH.'”
Vodafone Adds Satellite Coverage to IoT Services
Telecommunications provider Vodafone, which works with businesses to connect vehicles and other assets to the Internet of Things via its cellular network, and which recently completed a test of the newly standardized narrowband LTE network, has forged a roaming agreement with Inmarsat, a provider of global mobile satellite communications, through which Vodafone will also be able to offer international satellite and cellular roaming connectivity for IoT devices.
The companies say the collaboration will support greater reliability and reach, enabling Vodafone to offer more competitive and flexible IoT services, especially for networks deployed in remote regions with poor cellular connectivity in such industries as agriculture and energy, or in the transportation sector. Through the agreement, Vodafone customers will access Inmarsat’s I-4 satellite network, which provides global coverage. The service is expected to be made commercially available during the first half of 2017.
Jabil, Verizon Ventures, Back Smart Building Tech Provider Verdigris
Verdigris, a Silicon Valley-based startup that attaches sensors to electrical panels in order to track building-wide energy consumption and equipment health, has raised a $6.7 million round of funding, bringing its total funding to $16 million. One of the firm’s existing investors, Jabil, a contract electronics manufacturer that operates 57 factories in 33 countries and is a Verdigris customer, led the investment. Verizon Ventures, the telecommunications company’s investment arm, also contributed.
Verdigris’ technology has been installed at approximately 100 buildings, primarily hotels, factories and hospitals. The firm says it will use the funds to scale manufacturing of its hardware and to meet increased customer demand. Other investors in this round include Stanford StartX Fund, a nonprofit whose mission is to support the technology-development efforts of Stanford alumnae, and individuals who have previous invested in Verdigris.
Autodesk Adds Predicative Maintenance Software Tool to Fusion
Product design software provider Autodesk and Boston-based data science software provider Nutonian are partnering to integrate Nutonian’s artificial intelligence modeling engine, Eureqa, into Autodesk’s Fusion Connect IoT platform. (Fusion is the Industrial IoT software that Autodesk acquired from SeeControl in 2015.)
Eureqa works by devising predictive models from raw data, and is designed to enable any user in an organization to solve data-driven business problems. With Eureqa enhancing Fusion Connect, manufacturers can analyze data collected from connected machines in order to better predict when they might fail or require maintenance. Eureqa generates alerts diagnostics dashboards that end users can access in order to not only schedule machinery maintenance but, when used as part of the Fusion platform, also track potential flaws in the design or materials used in products.
YunOS Integrating Gemalto Security Services for IoT Devices
Gemalto, a digital security services provider, is now working with YunOS, a cloud-based IoT operating system developed by Alibaba Group, the $100 billion Chinese e-commerce company, to provide connectivity and security for YunOS. The YunOS system is used to manage IoT devices in a range of applications, including connected cars and smart-home appliances. Through the partnership, YunOS will leverage Gemalto’s Allynis Trusted Service Hub to deploy identity lifecycle management services for security-sensitive applications running on IoT devices.
Kontakt.io Opens Beacon Showroom in Berlin
Kontakt.io, a provider of Bluetooth beacon hardware, has opened a showroom in the Kreuzberg district of Berlin, Germany. The center, known as Proximity Studio, opened its doors on Oct. 18 and will ultimately feature demonstrations of up to 100 different beacon applications designed for use cases in a range of industries, including retail, manufacturing, education, transportation and hospitality. Kontakt.io consultants staff the studio in order to provide guidance and assistance in developing proof-of-concept projects for interested customers. Kontakt.io has also partnered with a number of service providers, such as mobile application developers Xponia and Proxama, to demonstrate products and solutions in the studio.
Orange Launches Datavenue Service Worldwide
Orange Business Services, an IT and communications services provider and an arm of the telecommunications firm Orange, has announced the global availability of its Datavenue service, a program designed to help its customers launch and maintain IoT networks. Orange Business Services initially launched Datavenue in France in 2015. The service is offered via four modules: Select, Connect, Manage and Control.
Through the Select module, customers work with Orange consultants to determine the most relevant objects to be used in an Internet of Things network, as well the targeted data to be collected. Orange works with partners to help those customers source sensors, cameras or other hardware used to connect assets to an IoT network.
The Connect module commissions the selected devices to a desired network, which is selected based on the customer’s needs and use cases. Orange provides cellular network connectivity, but also access to a range of other options, including satellite networks or low-power wide-area network solutions, such as LoRa.
The Manage module gives customers real-time access to data derived from the IoT network, through Orange’s cloud-based and on-premises software solutions, encompassing remote device management, processing and visualization.
Finally, the Control module provides end-to-end security and data protection, integration with information systems and service scalability.