The computer in your toothbrush: 3 million smart toothbrushes were just used in a DDoS attack. Really

[usonian]

Last edited Fri Feb 9, 2024, 12:50 PM - Edit history (1)

On edit. This may be baloney. But other devices, chiefly home routers, have been hijacked, so proceed with caution. And buy "dumb" stuff while it's still available.


https://www.zdnet.com/home-and-office/smart-home/3-million-smart-toothbrushes-were-just-used-in-a-ddos-attack-really/

Does DDoS mean Dental Denial of Service attack?

It sounds more like science fiction than reality, but Swiss newspaper Aargauer Zeitung reports that approximately three million smart toothbrushes were hijacked by hackers to launch a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack. These innocuous bathroom gadgets -- transformed into soldiers in a botnet army -- knocked out a Swiss company for several hours, costing millions of euros in damages.

While the details are scarce, we know that the compromised toothbrushes were running Java, a popular language for Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Once infected, a global network of malicious toothbrushes launched their successful attack.

The repurposed toothbrushes accomplished this by flooding the Swiss website with bogus traffic, effectively knocking services offline and causing widespread disruption.

This episode underlines the ever-expanding threat landscape as the IoT becomes increasingly embedded in our daily lives. "Smart" toothbrushes are now 10 years old. Devices that once seemed harmless and disconnected from the digital ecosystem are now potential entry points for cybercriminals. The implications are vast, not only for individual privacy and security but also for national infrastructure and economic stability.

What's next? micro-dentists?

(yes, that's Kirk Douglas)

and I bought the "dumb" electronic toothbrush.

[getagrip_already]

1. Who's the woman?

The other guy looks like Bill murray.

[usonian]

2. Laraine

I got the image from Time
https://time.com/3433347/snl-old-photos-classic-episodes/

Kirk Douglas as Colonel Lloyd D. Westman, Laraine Newman as Nicole Westman and Bill Murray as Captain Steve McCleod during the 'The Micro-Dentists' skit on February 23, 1980.

Enjoy!

I remember the "Final Days" episode like it was yesterday.
Nixon and Kissinger.

[getagrip_already]

3. Well, if she is going to climb into my mouth,

She is way overdressed (who said that?)....

[Think. Again.]

4. Ar people so...

...desperate to burn up as much energy as they possibly can that are actually buying, charging, and using electronic toothbrushes? Wouldn't it be more effective to just keep an oil barrel burning in their backyards?

[mike_c]

5. I've seen the IoT described as...

...millions of unpatched Linux systems running as root.

[eppur_se_muova]

6. Remind me why we need these things ?

Or is just that someone wants to sell them to us ? Because I've never found that a reason to part with my money.

[CloudWatcher]

7. Well, no. Story is just not true

Another case of the media being sloppy

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/no-3-million-electric-toothbrushes-were-not-used-in-a-ddos-attack/

"To clarify, the topic of toothbrushes being used for DDoS attacks was presented during an interview as an illustration of a given type of attack, and it is not based on research from Fortinet or FortiGuard Labs. It appears that due to translations the narrative on this topic has been stretched to the point where hypothetical and actual scenarios are blurred." - Fortinet.

[usonian]

8. I sure wish that someone had told me before it hit the internet!

It's post-truth era and getting worse by the nanosecond. Who can fact-check everything?

Kinda sucks.

[CloudWatcher]

9. It was picked up by a lot of news services

We used to have paid journalists that would actually do their job and fact check before publishing. Now it's just a rush to clickbait and manufactured controversies.