A new piece of Russian malware that can destroy consumers’ routers has the FBI warning users to restart their devices. But that won’t necessarily ensure that your router doesn’t become reinfected.
To
inoculate your device, your best bet is to download the latest
firmware. It might sound scary, but it’s surprisingly easy to do on your
own.
From Russia, with love
The malware, according to The Justice Department,
comes by way of the group known as Fancy Bear, which is believed to
operate as part of Russia’s military intelligence service. If left
untreated, the software could be used to monitor any traffic that goes
across your router, surveil basically anything you do online, block
certain websites or destroy your device entirely.
About
500,000 devices around the world are said to be infected with the
malware, which could be used to form a network of zombie devices that
could take down websites by overloading their servers.
To
protect your router, you can download the appropriate firmware through
its manufacturer’s website. It’s recommended that you connect the
computer from which you’re installing the update directly to your router
using an ethernet cable to prevent any connection issues between the
devices.
For Netgear (NTGR) routers, you can go to routerlogin.net to access your router’s page. Enter your username and password, go to the Administration tab under Advanced and click the update option.
Owners of Linksys routers can find the latest firmware on Linksys’s support website. You then have to type the following IP address into your browser’s address bar: 192.168.1.1 before heading over to the Administration tab. From there, you’ll need to select firmware upgrade, choose the firmware you downloaded and install it.
MikroTik router owners can update their firmware via the RouterOS software, making upgrading relatively straightforward.
TP-Link router users should visit TP-Link’s download center website
to download the appropriate firmware. You’ll then need to access your
router by going to tplinkwifi.net and entering your username and
password. From there, you can install the firmware to update your
device.
Netgear
- DGN2200
- R6400
- R7000
- R8000
- WNR1000
- WNR2000
Linksys
- E1200
- E2500
- WRVS4400N
MikroTik
- 1016
- 1036
- 1072
TP-Link
- R600VPN
Once
you’ve installed the appropriate patch for your system, you should be
protected from any potential malware. In fact, you should regularly
download software updates for all of your devices, as well as the
operating devices for your computer or phone. Doing so should save you
plenty of headaches in the future.
