It was just about a week ago that I warned you about security vulnerabilities that can occur in your all-important routers. If your router is compromised, the security of all of your devices that use the router is in jeopardy. Now the FBI has just issued an official warning about foreign hackers using a type of malware called VPNFilter to target the routers of office and home office routers around the world. The malware enables the hacker to steal your information, exploit your devices and even block network communications rendering the routers inoperable. Unfortunately, according to the FBI the VPNFilter malware is difficult to detect and defend against.
TIPS
The FBI is recommending that owners of small offices and home office routers, which, to date, have been the primary targets of the malware, to reboot their routers. This can disrupt the malware and help identify infected devices. The FBI is also recommending that you disable remote management settings on your routers and make sure you are using a strong password as well as encryption. Finally, the FBI is advising everyone to upgrade to the latest versions of your router’s firmware, as I advised last week.
The good news is that companies that make routers are constantly developing router security updates. The bad news is that for the most part the companies that produce routers don’t automatically send you those updates. You need to look for them and download them yourself. In order to do so you need to use your browser to log into your router using its IP address. Experts advise that you check for updates about every 90 days. Here are links with information for updating popular routers:
Apple https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201519
Asus https://www.asus.com/microsite/2014/networks/routerfirmware_update/
D-Link http://support.dlink.com/
Linksys https://www.linksys.com/us/support-article?articleNum=135561
Netgear https://kb.netgear.com/23442/How-do-I-update-my-NETGEAR-router-firmware-using-the-Check-button-in-the-router-s-web-interface
If this seems like a lot of work (and it does to me), you may wish to consider getting a router that does automatically download updates. Among the routers that work automatically to download necessary updates is the highly rated Linksys AC2600. Since 2017 Netgear routers provide automatic updating.
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