"Most people have never heard of DYN, nor do they realize why this attack is so important and disruptive," says Andy Green, lecturer of information security and assurance at Kennesaw State University.
DYN is a DNS, or Domain Name System, provider. DNS is the Internet's "phone book" which translates domain names (such as kennesaw.edu) to a specific IP address (130.218.100.94). People can easily recall a domain name, but would never remember the actual IP address associated with it.
That's why DNS is so important, says Green. DYN is the DNS provider for many popular services and websites, including Twitter, Spotify, and Reddit just to name a few.
"It's too early to tell who is behind the attack, or what their motivations may be," Green says. "However, it is worth noting that the code base for the 'Mirai' botnet was made public a couple of weeks ago. So, it is possible that DYN is suffering an attack from the "Mirai" botnet creator, or from an individual or group that took the existing code base and created their own botnet."
Green teaches courses in information security at Kennesaw State University, which was designated a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance/Cyber Defense Education from the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security.
He can be reached at [email protected] or (470) 578-4352.
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