An estimated 500,000 routers are infected with malware known as “VPNFilter” according to a report from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
VPNFilter is believed to be able to capture information from your network as well as remotely disable your router rendering it unusable.
The FBI is recommending anyone with a consumer-class router potentially at risk to reboot the router. It’s also recommended to disable any remote management software and change the password on your router.
If your router is provided by your Internet service provider, I would check with them to see what they are doing to protect you from this security exploit.
If you purchased your router, I would take the recommendations a step further and say that you should visit the manufacturer’s website for your specific model of router and see if there have been any firmware updates. Download the latest update to your local computer and then disconnect your router from the Internet before rebooting. With your computer connected to the router, install the firmware update. Once the firmware update is successfully installed, reconnect your router to the Internet.
Which routers are impacted?
The following router models are believed to be most at risk according to a variety of sources. Just because your device isn’t on the list below, doesn’t mean you are not at risk. It is still a good idea to turn off the remote management features of your router and keep the firmware up to date.
Linksys Models:
E1200
E2500
WRVS4400N
Mikrotik Models:
1016
1036
1072
Netgear Models:
DGN2200
R6400
R7000
R8000
WNR1000
WNR2000
Qnap Models:
TS251
TS439 Pro
TP-Link Model:
R600VPN
