Silex malware is affecting the IoT devices

There is a new strain of malware that has been affecting the embedded firmware of the Internet of Things devices. The attacks are incredibly similar to the BrickerBot malware which has reportedly destroyed a vast number of devices in the year 2017.

The malware is named as Silex, and it becomes operational on the 25th of June 2019. According to the investigation, the malware had reportedly affected around 350 Internet of Things devices when it came into being. In an hour, the malware allegedly wiped out around 2,000 Internet of Things devices.

Moreover, attacks on the Internet of Things devices are continuing, according to the interview with the creators of malware. Furthermore, the creator also said that the attacks are going to be intensified in the forthcoming days.

Larry Cashdollar, a researcher from Akamai, was the first person to spot the malware. According to Cashdollar, at first, Silex trashes the storage of the Internet of Things devices. It also drops the firewall rules by merely removing the configuration of the network and later halts the device. The malware is extremely destructive, yet it doesn't fry the circuit boards of the Internet of Things devices.

There is only one solution to deal with this malware, and the victims are asked to reinstall the firmware of the device manually. By the looks of it, the solution might sound simple. Nevertheless, the task is exponentially complication for most of the owners.

Experts are saying that most of the owners are most likely throw the devices away as they would feel that the device has had a failure in hardware. There is a chance that these majority of owners are not well aware of the fact that their devices have been hit by powerful malware. The attack originates from an Iranian server which is targeting the ARM devices.

**This post was published on https://www.zdnet.com