Shellshock bug a danger to mobile device users

In an alarming article published Thursday the US publication The Hill claimed that a bug in almost 70 percent of all Internet-connected devices is being used to create botnets that can remotely lock or lift data from computers and smart phones…and the online gambling sector is the target of choice for many hackers exploiting the flaw.

The Hill quotes from a report issued by cloud services specialist firm Akamai on a bug dubbed Shellshock, which it claims puts many Mac computers and Android smartphones at risk as hackers exploit the vulnerability to remotely take over machines and devices in order to build botnets and launch DDoS attacks.

After monitoring its own network, Akamai found more than 22,000 unique attacking IP addresses using botnets targeting the Shellshock vulnerability, with two-thirds of those addresses located in the United States.

While the vast majority of botnets went after online gambling sites, consumer electronics pages, travel sites and video streaming sites were other popular targets, the company warned.

Cautions about Shellshock went public in late September, but the bug was discovered weeks earlier. Though patches have been released, these failed to address the flaw in its entirety, Akamai said.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology rated the threat a 10 out of 10, double the rating it gave the Heartbleed bug, another high-profile flaw that affected many websites’ encryption software.