Like everyone else, I caught the new trailer for the next Star Wars movie on Monday and “saw raw, untamed power … and beyond that, something truly special.” I’m now spotting Lucasfilm metaphors everywhere. Since IoT is my personal and professional obsession, botnet foes like Persirai and Mirai and LinuxProxyM naturally equate to the dark side of the Force — the evil empire spreading its influence insidiously through thousands upon thousands of weak devices. Then there are the light-bearers: quiet Jedi masters valiantly using the same Force (say, via Wifatch and Hajimi) in a noble bid to prevent further infection and exploitation. And of course, there is BrickerBot, the permanent denial-of-service (PDoS) botnet that effectively destroys or “bricks” unsecured and susceptible internet-connected devices. It’s harsh but effective. Not entirely light. Not entirely dark. As with Qui-Gon Jinn, and maybe even Luke Skywalker and Rey, it’s kind of gray.
For those who’ve never fallen down the Star Wars rabbit hole, here’s a little Lucasification 101: In Star Wars canon, midi-chlorians (MC) are a lifeform that share a symbiotic relationship with every cell in living bodies (including bacterium found in and on inanimate objects). MC are connected and networked throughout the Star Wars universe, creating a universal zoetic field — commonly called “the Force.” In this analogy, all our IP devices (including 1st and 2nd generation IoT, such as personal computers and mobile devices) would be MC. They connect and interconnect to create the larger “animate” field (our Internet).