China would like you to know that it's not to blame for last week's massive DDoS attack, thank you very much, and it has a legal team ready to prove it.
The government this week said it will take legal action against individuals and organizations that try to make "false claims" about the possible involvement of Chinese companies in last week's attack on Domain Name System (DNS) provider Dyn, according to the BBC.
China's Ministry of Justice insists products made by Hangzhou Xiongmai Technology "cannot be manipulated by criminals." Instead, the problem is with users who "do not change the initial password," the ministry says.
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Last week's DDoS attack occured after botnets like Mirai scoured the Web for IoT devices protected by weak default passwords. They landed on DVRs and cameras from Xiongmai, among others. "[We] have to admit that our products also suffered from hackers' break-in and illegal use," the Chinese firm told Computerworld. Xiongmai later recalled up to 10,000 problematic webcams.
It's unclear how the Chinese government might target companies or individuals in Western countries; average users probably don't have much to worry about.