Chinese firm recalls products linked to US cyber-attack

A Chinese electronics components firm said it will recall some of its products that were allegedly used to launch a cyber-attack in the United States last Friday, but refused to take the main responsibility, thepaper.cn reports.

Hackers unleashed a complex attack on the internet through common devices like webcams and digital recorders, and cut access in large areas in the US to some of the world's most popular websites including Twitter, Spotify and Reddit.

Hangzhou Xiongmai Technology, a Chinese company which makes parts for surveillance cameras, rejected suggestions that its webcams made up the bulk of the devices used in the attack.

Despite this, the company said in a statement that it would recall some of its earlier products sold in the US, strengthen password functions, and send users a patch for products made before April of last year since they are potentially vulnerable.

The main products to be recalled are all webcam models, said the statement.

The company emphasized that its products were well protected from cyber security breaches and urged users to update their firmware and change their default usernames and passwords.

Friday's attack targeted internet service company Dyn, a provider of Domain Name System services, using tens of millions of malware-infected devices connected to the internet to bombard the websites with requests for information, overloading them and effectively shutting them down.

Experts said internet-connected home devices still have deficiencies in security, which make them vulnerable to hackers.