Millions of hacked toothbrushes could be used in cyber attack, researchers warn

Internet-connected toothbrushes could be linked together in something known as a botnet, which would allow them to perform a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack that overloads websites and servers with huge amounts of web traffic.

Major websites could be knocked offline as a result of the attack, according to Swiss newspaper Aargauer Zeitung, who first reported the threat, resulting in millions of dollars of lost revenue.

The issue was initially reported as an actual incident, but Fortinet has since clarified to The Independent that it was a hypothetical scenario.

“The topic of toothbrushes being used for DDoS attacks was presented during an interview as an illustration of a given type of attack, and it is not based on research from Fortinet or FortiGuard Labs,” a spokesperson said.

“It appears that due to translations the narrative on this topic has been stretched to the point where hypothetical and actual scenarios are blurred.”

Fortinet warned of the dangers of smart devices, which can include web cams, baby monitors, doorbells and domestic appliances.