Poor router security leaves Indians more vulnerable to cyberattacks: Survey
An estimated 65% Indians have never updated their router’s firmware, while 39% have no idea about the presence of firmware in the routers. This was stated by a researchconducted by digital security provider, Avast.
The study hints at how cyber attacks can take advantage of people’s lack of understanding of router security. According to the research, only 23% of Indians login into router’s web administration. It says that only 44% of Indians have changed the login credentials of their router’s web administrative interface.
As per the research, 32% of Indians have never logged into the web administration interface to change the factory login credentials. Of the total people surveyed, 65% have never updated the router’s firmware. The survey found out that only 33% of Indians login into the router’s interface one a year or less to check for updates.
The research suggests that this leaves routers vulnerable to malware. It said that in May this year, an estimated 700,000 routers around the world were diagnosed as vulnerable to malware with SSL stripping capabilities. To date, routers in 54 countries are affected, including Linksys, NETGEAR, D-Link, Huawei and Asus models, the research stated.
Martin Hron, Security Researcher at Avast, said, “An individual’s local network is only as strong as the weakest link in the chain, and more often than not it is the router that is the greatest point of vulnerability. The router is frequently misunderstood or overlooked, but it’s arguably the most important device as it acts as the gateway to the internet. By connecting multiple devices and allowing them to share data with one another while managing incoming and outgoing web-traffic, it’s a natural target for bad actors who are intent on gathering sensitive personal information, such as bank login details, and exploiting the devices paired to it, such as IoT devices. As a bare minimum, people should be changing the default usernames and passwords on their routers as soon as they’re installed, and proactively check for firmware updates.”
As per the research, 32% of Indians have never logged into the web administration interface to change the factory login credentials. Of the total people surveyed, 65% have never updated the router’s firmware. The survey found out that only 33% of Indians login into the router’s interface one a year or less to check for updates.
The research suggests that this leaves routers vulnerable to malware. It said that in May this year, an estimated 700,000 routers around the world were diagnosed as vulnerable to malware with SSL stripping capabilities. To date, routers in 54 countries are affected, including Linksys, NETGEAR, D-Link, Huawei and Asus models, the research stated.
Martin Hron, Security Researcher at Avast, said, “An individual’s local network is only as strong as the weakest link in the chain, and more often than not it is the router that is the greatest point of vulnerability. The router is frequently misunderstood or overlooked, but it’s arguably the most important device as it acts as the gateway to the internet. By connecting multiple devices and allowing them to share data with one another while managing incoming and outgoing web-traffic, it’s a natural target for bad actors who are intent on gathering sensitive personal information, such as bank login details, and exploiting the devices paired to it, such as IoT devices. As a bare minimum, people should be changing the default usernames and passwords on their routers as soon as they’re installed, and proactively check for firmware updates.”
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