SCAM ALERT: Hackers have found a way to attack your home WiFi router
We take a look at the newest hack which is targeting home WiFi routers...
When it comes to having access WiFi, it is definitely a privilege for many people, one that is slowly becoming a necessity for many homes. Not just in South Africa, but around the world. Having access to the internet during the current pandemic has proved beneficial to many families, both for entertainment purposes and for schooling needs.
But with great advancement comes great risk, well at least that's what we think when it comes to technology. There is a juxtaposition of having everything in your hands and then having everything also at risk of being taken away from you.
We are talking about cybersecurity and a new hack that is attacking home WiFi routers.
The VPN service provider, NordVPN, says that "this is incredibly worrying to cybersecurity experts, as 64% of users have WiFi routers in their household, and 1 in 6 do nothing to protect them." (Business Tech)
The scariest part of hearing that is that many of us don't realise that we need to protect our WiFi routers. Yes, it makes sense now that we heard about this type of cyber attack, but how often are we educated about cybersecurity?
"The attackers were hacking poorly protected routers and changing their settings. Once that was done, they could redirect users to a fake web page that displayed a message, purportedly from the World Health Organisation, telling users to download an application that offers information about COVID-19. The application would then work as an info stealer and upload the stolen data to hackers’ servers." (Business Tech)
The importance of knowing what can happen when your home WiFi router is hacked is just as important as dealing with it the best way possible.
Some of the things that you may be risking in not having protection include; having unwanted users on your network, slowing down the network or engaging in illegal acts, spying on your internet activity - if you enter your banking credentials on a device that is linked to the router then the hacker can view this information, hackers can take control of your internet activity, which basically means they can redirect you to a malicious site and secretly control your traffic...
Scary, right? Definitely scary, especially because there is this notion that when we are home we are safe. Not the case, as when technology advances, so to do the risks and the lack of security only makes us more vulnerable.
"The least you can do to protect your home router is to change your default router password. After that, you can turn off SSID (WiFi network name) broadcasts. If you hide your SSID, the name of your home WiFi won’t appear in the list when someone tries to connect. Instead, they’ll have to manually connect by typing in your home WiFi name and password. This way, a potential intruder will have to know the exact name of your home WiFi as well as the password."
The VPN advisor also suggests that you could install a VPN on your router. A VPN will encrypt the traffic on every device connected to your home WiFi. It scrambles all your online data, rendering it complete gibberish to hackers trying to intercept your network. (Business Tech)
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