A new kind of attack is targeting unsecured Internet of Things devices by scrambling their code and rendering them useless.
Security firm Radware first spotted the newly-found “BrickerBot” malware last month after it started hitting its own honeypots, logging hundreds of infection attempts over a few days. When the malware connects to a device with their default usernames and passwords — often easily found on the internet — the malware corrupts the device’s storage, leading to a state of permanent denial-of-service (PDoS) attack, known as “bricking.”
In other words, this attack, “damages a system so badly that it requires replacement or reinstallation of hardware,” said Radware.
http://www.zdnet.com/article/homeland-security-warns-of-brickerbot-malware-that-destroys-unsecured-internet-connected-devices/