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On October 21st, millions of Internet users in the United States lost all ability to access some of the world’s most popular websites (Amazon, Twitter, Netflix, etc.). This outage was the result of a massive distributed denial of services (DDoS) attack against one of the enabling mechanisms of the Internet. After analyzing the origins of the attack, researchers determined that some of the devices were part of a growing wave of new technologies called the Internet of Things (IoT). Used more as an umbrella term, IoT devices include IP cameras, baby monitors, vehicles, wearables, smart thermostats, TVs, toasters, washer & dryers, and even Pandora streaming toilets. By first stepping through the structure of this particular DDoS attack, including infection and exploitation, this talk explores the challenges associated with securing the Internet of Things.Nathan Wallace is the Director of Cyber Operations at Cybirical, a new engineering firm specializing in services and solutions for the design and maintenance of secure and cyber-aware power system environments. He graduated from Louisiana Tech University with BSs in EE and Physics, a MS in Engineering, and a PhD in Engineering Cyberspace. At Cybirical, he is responsible for assessing various power system cybersecurity risks and mitigation strategies and leads the design and setup of the company’s relay protection training lab while also assisting with site design and commissioning.