On October 29, 2016 at 15:35 beecher@beecher.cc (Tom Beecher) wrote:
"That means the motive was prep for terrorism or cyberwar by a state-level actor. "
Or, quite possibly ( I would argue probably) it was marketing. Show off the capabilities of the botnet to garner more interest amongst those who pay for use of such things.
Supposedly Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's widely publicized video of him beheading Daniel Pearl was basically an ad for his group's for-hire mercenary services. Look at how ruthless we are! Didn't seem to lead to much of a career. However the one fly in this ointment is that the Mirai virus code has since been distributed. So unless there's some critical piece of that they've held back it's not much of a property. If that's true, that the virus code was subsequently distributed by the actors, it also raises doubts about a state actor. Why would they distribute the code? State actors tend to work in an atmosphere of secrecy unless they're flaunting their deeds. But, whatever, one doesn't know until one knows. -- -Barry Shein Software Tool & Die | bzs@TheWorld.com | http://www.TheWorld.com Purveyors to the Trade | Voice: +1 617-STD-WRLD | 800-THE-WRLD The World: Since 1989 | A Public Information Utility | *oo*