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Internet Attack Sheds Light On Vulnerabilities In 'Internet Of Things'

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(DeclanTM/Flickr)
(DeclanTM/Flickr)

If you had trouble getting to Twitter, Netflix or The New York Times last Friday, you weren't alone.

Hackers blocked access to those websites and others last week by overloading a New Hampshire company, Dyn, that directs internet traffic. The traffic came from hacked devices from peoples' homes, otherwise known as the Internet of Things.

The attack shed light on the formerly little-known company that is responsible for converting domain names like "Twitter dot com" into the numerical addresses where the sites live. Without that critical translation step, users can't connect to the sites they want.

Dyn has issued a statement saying they are carefully monitoring for any additional attacks and that, "The nature and source of the attack is under investigation, but it was a sophisticated attack across multiple attack vectors and internet locations."

Guest

Engin Kirda, professor of computer science at Northeastern University and director of the Northeastern Information Assurance Institute.

This segment aired on October 24, 2016.

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