Seemingly minor and easily overlooked settings can still have profound security implications. Here are some steps you can take to make sure your wired or wireless home router \u2014 and by extension, your network \u2014 is as secure as possible.<\/b><\/p>\n
by Joseph Moran<\/b><\/p>\n
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Researchers at Indiana University’s Department of Computer Science recently released a report outlining a way hackers could potentially access and change the configuration routers on home networks. They described how some JavaScript built into a Web page could be used to log into the administrator account of a home router and change its\u00a0DNS<\/a>\u00a0settings.<\/p>\n That’s significant, because once a router uses DNS servers controlled by an attacker, that router can be used as a springboard for all manner of dirty deeds, ranging from\u00a0malware<\/a>\u00a0infection to identity theft via\u00a0phishing<\/a>. The Indiana University report points out that this attack doesn’t exploit any browser vulnerability, and, more importantly, it seems to work with pretty much any router, irrespective of brand or model.<\/p>\n But what’s even more interesting is that the hack was successful only when the target router’s default administrative password had been left at the factory default setting. In other words, users were protected if they had simply changed their passwords, because the attack relied on the use of the device vendors’ default passwords, which are common knowledge.<\/p>\n There’s no telling just how many routers out there still use the default passwords, but it’s a safe bet it’s a lot. After all, many automated router setup wizards don’t prompt the user to change the default administrator password, and most routers bury this setting way down in the menu where casual users are unlikely to notice it.<\/p>\n