Mirai Botnet Downs U.S. Internet for Minecraft

In October 2016, the Mirai botnet unleashed one of the largest distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks ever recorded, crippling much of the internet on the U.S. East Coast. The malware worked by hijacking insecure IoT (Internet of Things) devices like cameras and routers, which then flooded major DNS provider Dyn with overwhelming traffic. Investigators later revealed the botnet was not the work of a hostile state but of three college students, who built it to gain an advantage in running a Minecraft server.

Previous Fact Next Fact