The article mentions Telnet login credentials about halfway through. Is that honestly what's happening? I'd assumed it was at least SSH logins being abused on the systems.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cWck_xcH64
Warning - watching this may readjust your faith in humanity. Telnet is just the tip of the iceberg.
edit: (15:42) "Econolite [stoplights] listening on telnet. There are intersections [with] stoplights; you can telnet into them and put them in 'test mode'[sic], and the warning says, 'Don't do this, you could kill people!'"
And an article on how bad it is: http://www.networkworld.com/article/3143133/security/iot-sec... (98 seconds to being infected after exposing it to the internet)
> The correct mitigation, Graham said, is to “put these devices behind your firewall” because “many of the Mirai passwords can’t be changed.”
No, the correct mitigation is to not have one of those devices.
You don't buy a rotten apple, and then store it on your kitchen table, because "it's fine because it's sealed in a plastic bag".
Richards' Laws of Data Security:
1. Don't buy a computer.
2. If you must buy a computer, don't turn it on.I guess some citys will have to get the plague first, before the governments quarantining is accepted.