Last October, millions of internet-connected devices infected by Mirai malware—including many closed-circuit cameras and DVRs—bombarded internet company Dyn with traffic, causing a denial-of-service attack so massive it led to widespread outages and congestion online.

On the bright side, the crippling attack has actually led to an important and promising legislative development. On Aug. 1, a group of senators introduced a bill, the Internet of Things Cybersecurity Improvement Act of 2017, that could make some strides toward securing the ever-growing number of online devices that, generally, comprise the so-called “Internet of Things.”

Source: The Senate is considering an internet of things security bill | Slate