July 13, 2010 - Millions of home routers are vulnerable to being hacked.
A researcher tested only 30 popular models of routers, about half of which were vulnerable to attack. The following are at risk.....
ActionTec - MI424-WR
ActionTec - MI424-WR
ActionTec - GT704-WG
ActionTec - GT701-WG
Asus - WL-520gU
DD-WRT
Dell - TrueMobile 2300
Linksys - BEFW11S4
Linksys - BEFSR41
Linksys - WRT54G3G-ST
Linksys - WRT160N
Linksys - WRT54G
Linksys - WRT54GL
OpenWRTPFSense
Thomson - ST585
Belkin - F5D7230-4
Belkin F5D8233-4v3 (not on the researcher's list but reportedly hackable)
Netgear WPN824 (not on the researcher's list but reportedly hacked)
What does it all mean? You should make sure that your router's firmware is updated and patched, and that you're not using default security settings. So if you are using the default login password then your router is at risk.
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TEST YOUR COMPUTER NOW: Find out if your router may have already been hacked into: Use the command prompt (START > RUN > type "cmd" then press enter) then type "ipconfig /all" and press enter. Note the assigned "DNS servers" IP addresses (four two digit numbers separated by periods), then enter those numbers (one line at a time) at www.whatismyipaddress.com . If the "DNS servers" are set to IP addresses in a far away place like Russia then your router has been hijacked.
Also on your router's control panel, the DNS settings should be set to "Get Automatically from ISP". |
Beware of websites that sell dirt cheap software
One of the ways that the bad guys obtain your credit card information is through web sites that appear to sell ridiculously cheap downloadable software including Windows, Microsoft Office, Adobe PhotoShop or even multimedia recording/editing software. Understand that the manufacturers of the software almost always NEVER allow their products to be sold as a download to begin with! This software should NOT be available for download ANYWHERE! For example Microsoft ONLY sells hard copies of Windows on CD or DVD with a certificate of authenticity sticker.
Note that these sites sometimes actually DO provide you with software but it is merely pirated software from torrent sites. This is so that you won't suspect fraud, won't notify your credit card company, and so that you will refer your friends to the website. If you have purchased software from one of these sites be sure to contact your bank so that they can issue you a new credit card. The bad guys will typically wait a few weeks or months, then attempt to charge your credit card again.