In this article by Amy Nordrum, she discusses the distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) cyberattacks that were inflicted via botnets on the major internet services company, Dyn, a few weeks ago. Dyn provides internet services for some very popular websites like Twitter, Netflix, and Reddit. Dyn's services were on hold for 2 hours that Friday morning during the first attack and then Dyn detected a second attack closely after, which they were able to fend off (probably with difficulty).
Sometimes I hear of these attacks and I am just so curious to understand how they could possibly happen. This article did a great job explaining the rudimentary procedure for how botnets can be made using malware sent to people unwittingly or how the internet of things (IoT) can be harnessed for cyberattacks. Having just joined the Cyber Security Club here at the College of Charleston, I am starting to get an idea of the process (not that I would ever use it, of course!!). I think it is important for students studying computer science or computer information systems to have a deep understanding of these concepts so that, even if we are more interested in being software developers, we are better able to build systems that can withstand attacks like this. It is far better to prevent attacks than to scramble around during one, trying to get them to stop.