Malware Spreading Through Linksys, Netgear, TP-Link routers and QNAP NAS
There is a report going viral at the moment, a new aggressive malware dubbed VPNFilter is spreading rapidly. Cisco is spreading the news that already over half a million devices in at least 54 countries already have been infected.
While the list may not be complete, the known devices affected by the malware called VPNFilter are Linksys, MikroTik, NETGEAR and TP-Link networking equipment in the small and home office (SOHO) space, as well at QNAP network-attached storage (NAS) devices. While we're always a bit careful pointing fingers, I'll just quote Cisco; "Cisco’s Talos cyber intelligence unit has high confidence that the Russian government is behind the campaign, according to Cisco researcher Craig Williams, because the hacking software shares code with malware used in previous cyber attacks that the U.S. government has attributed to Moscow".
VPNFilter allows hackers to access infected computers and devices. Then, according to Cisco, they can be used for espionage or the execution of attacks (DDoS) on other computers and networks. It is not yet clear how the devices precisely become infected however most routers and NAS servers targeted, particularly run older versions of OS software and/or have known public exploits or default credentials that make compromise relatively straightforward.
Routers from Linksys, Mikrotik, Netgear and TP-link and NAS systems from Qnap are most susceptible, Cisco recommends that users restore the devices to the factory settings to remove the malware. We obviously recommend you to install the latest firmware on your Router and internet connected NAS units.
Source: Cisco's Talos and Reuters.
Microsoft Agrees Windows 10 upgrade was pushed too aggressively - 12/24/2016 09:28 AM
In a video interview with Microsoft’s Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), Chris Capossela, he stated that Microsoft has been too aggressive in pushing the Windows 10 upgrade. ...
Act of Aggression Ships - 09/03/2015 07:26 AM
I've been hering good thigns about this game. Eugen Systems now offers Act of Aggression, their new real-time strategy game, which is available on Steam with a 15% launch discount. They also announc...
Senior Member
Posts: 21798
Joined: 2008-07-14
Thanks for posting that. It was nice to read an intelligent response in this thread after reading all the stupid ones.
Senior Member
Posts: 747
Joined: 2012-05-16
That's why I like Netgear because they're usually the first to slap on a firmware update. Especially when compared to that of linksys. I know they were first the last time some squabble came about in the interweb... But this is obviously a bit more severe it would seem.... Damn this hardware level infection shtuff....
Anyone who uses the default anything on their hardware deserves a good'ol "backdooring" if you ask me... Ya I like my Netgear, it had a couple of updates there right in a row a month or so ago, But ya no problems here.
Senior Member
Posts: 1661
Joined: 2012-04-30
@sykozis
Intelligent response does NOT equal correct information.
And anyone questioning why another country would do this? Because they can, same way the US crippled irans nuclear program by infecting their computer software running the centrifuges.
And anyone not realising how much you can do with access to usage/personal information from +50000 local networks...
Senior Member
Posts: 21798
Joined: 2008-07-14
@sykozis
Intelligent response does NOT equal correct information.
And anyone questioning why another country would do this? Because they can, same way the US crippled irans nuclear program by infecting their computer software running the centrifuges.
And anyone not realising how much you can do with access to usage/personal information from +50000 local networks...
When the information is a copy/paste directly from the source of said information, it's as accurate as it can get....
Senior Member
Posts: 320
Joined: 2014-12-09
It's more than likely one of the CIA cyber weapons/exploits that got stolen