A story about three million hacked electric toothbrushes used to launch a DDoS attack has sparked skepticism among cybersecurity experts. The story, from cybersecurity company Fortinet, went viral and raised questions about its authenticity.
Last week, Swiss news site Aargauer Zeitung reported that three million tampered toothbrushes were involved in a cyber attack. Presented by Fortinet, a global cybersecurity leader, the case quickly gained attention and was featured in international media such as the Independent and Times of India.
However, the story was met with skepticism, with some experts labeling it as ‘pure fiction’ and ‘a fabricated example’. Others claimed there was no evidence such an attack had ever occurred. Cybersecurity expert Kevin Beaumont even emphasized that the story was used as propaganda in Russian Telegram chats.
Contradictory statements
Fortinet has issued a statement, carried by various media, including BleepingComputersaying: “To clarify, the topic of using toothbrushes for DDoS attacks was presented during an interview as an illustration of a certain type of attack, and it is not based on research from Fortinet or FortiGuard Labs. It appears that due to translations the The narrative on this subject is so extensive that hypothetical and actual scenarios become blurred.”
The next day, however, the author of the original story in the Aargauer Zeitung disputed this, saying: “Fortinet provided specific details: information about how long the attack took down a Swiss company’s website; an order of magnitude of how extensive the damage was. For the sake of its customers, Fortinet did not want to reveal which company it was. The text was submitted to Fortinet for verification before publication. No objection was raised to the statement that it was a real case that actually took place.’
The case of the DDoS attack on three million toothbrushes remains shrouded in mystery for now, leaving us all wondering where exactly the truth lies.