Have you changed your router password?
BBC News reports that 50% of home users have NOT changed the default passwords on their router administrative privileges. Researchers from the University of Indiana and security firm Symantec created an attack that surreptitiously redirects a user to nefarious sites once they have visited a booby-trapped webpage.
The attack works by re-writing the address book in network hardware to point victims to the scam sites.
Everyone should ALWAYS change the default passwords on any home network routers etc. Changing these passwords is explained in the user manuals and is usually a part of the administrative menu. Unfortunately, most routers do not require the password to be changed, and may not even prompt the user during setup for a new password. Thus, it will remain at the well known default value providing an easy vulnerability.
Posted: February 16th, 2007 under General.
Tags: bad_guys, bbc, home_network, news, security_threat