A cyber attack left millions of online users off popular websites Friday morning. The areas affected varied from the east coast to the west coast.
The attack targeted an internet traffic company, "DYN."
The company has come out and said that this attack was well planned and sophisticated.
Scott Greene, Executive officer with Evidence Solutions tells me it happened by the "internet of things." Such as baby monitors, cameras, garage doors, toasters etc.
Adding, "what happened is if these devices are not secured properly, then it can be hacked. Many of these devices are set up, brought into homes, plugged into a network and everyone lets them be as they are or as they come out of the box. But what you need to do is secure them until you allow them onto your network," says Greene.
Many of the devices have default user names and passwords so it was an easy get for hackers.
With heavy traffic, users couldn't go onto sites.
Greene says, "when you have that much traffic the website and the services just can't handle it so those of us who legitimately try to connect to these services cannot."
The attack stopped access to websites such as Twitter, Amazon, Spotify, Etsy and other major websites.
"What it was trying to do is actually prevent companies like Amazon from actually being able to be connected to by their clients, the people who want to buy things," Greene tells KGUN 9.
Greene says, credit cards did not get hacked but it is important to check your statements daily because you just never know.
