Hajime Internet of Things Malware Is Creating A Peer-To-Peer Botnet From Almost 300,000 Devices

Latest updates reveal that Internet of Things (IoT) malware, Hajime is currently creating a peer-to-peer botnet from almost 300,000 devices. Although there are reports online of numerous malware attacking devices, the latest and notorious of them is the Hajime, an Internet of Things malware that is reported to have already taken over 300,000 devices.

According to reports, Hajime, which means "beginning" in Japanese is an IoT worm that builds P2P botnet from a massive number of devices for unknown reasons. Details about the malware first surfaced online on 16 October 2016, as reported by Secure List. The report also states that Hajime, an Internet of Things malware has continued to improve and upgrade with new features ever since.

However, judging from the devices that have been attacked, it is believed that Hajime, an Internet of Things malware developers are only able to attack users with low levels of security. According to Digital Trends, Kaspersky Lab has also published the findings of a study conducted on Hajime and the goal of its developers.

The findings of the research suggest that although Hajime, an Internet of Things malware focus more on routers, DVRs, and webcams, it also have the tendency to attack any device on the internet. The malware, if successful on its mission, would infect a device, and then keep itself hidden from the victim. Kaspersky Lab stated that devices that have been successfully attacked can be used by the developers of the malware without the knowledge of the victim.

"The most intriguing thing about Hajime is its purpose. While the botnet is getting bigger and bigger, its objective remains unknown. We have not seen its traces in any type of attack or additional malicious activity," Konstantin Zykov, senior security researcher at Kaspersky Lab says.

Since the Hajime, an Internet of Things malware uses force to break through the password of users, Kaspersky Lab suggests that Internet of Things users should change their passwords to something more technical. This will make it difficult for the malware to guess using force, and users should update their firmware regularly.

Meanwhile, it is reported that most of the devices attacked by the Hajime, an Internet of Things malware are in Brazil, Iran, Vietnam, Taiwan, Turkey, India, Korea and China. What makes the malware more complicating is that it only contains a propagation module, rather than an attack code.

The malware adds successfully compromised devices to an existing botnet, which are then used for spam or DDoS attacks. However, the good news is that research have been able to confirm that the Hajime, an Internet of Things malware avoids a few network including General Electric, the United States Postal Service, Hewlett-Packard, the United States Department of Defense, and some other private networks.

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