The FBI Wants YOU… to reboot your router

If you use a home or office router, there’s a chance your router may be infected with “VPNFilter” a type of Russia malware designed to infect routers and cause them to stop working or maybe, even worse, pilfer private & personal information as it passes through the router. The FBI says: “The malware is able to perform multiple functions, including possible information collection, device exploitation, and blocking network traffic….”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation reports that “hundreds of thousands” of home and office routers have been infected with “VPNFilter”.

Many news sites are reporting the cyberattack is the product of a Russian hacking group, however the FBI is not (yet) blaming Russian hackers.  The FBI  only says  that “foreign cyber actors” are responsible.

Keep in mind that any security software you install on your PC does not protect your router. But, there’s certainly no reason to panic. It only takes a a minute or two to reboot your router and it won’t affect anything on your computer. The best way to reboot your router is to power cycle. Since it only takes a minute or two, and it’s always better to be safe than sorry – rebooting your router (turning it off and then back on) or power cycling right now is a great idea.

Here’s the FBI warning…

FOREIGN CYBER ACTORS TARGET HOME AND OFFICE ROUTERS AND NETWORKED DEVICES WORLDWIDE
SUMMARY

The FBI recommends any owner of small office and home office routers power cycle (reboot) the devices. Foreign cyber actors have compromised hundreds of thousands of home and office routers and other networked devices worldwide. The actors used VPNFilter malware to target small office and home office routers. The malware is able to perform multiple functions, including possible information collection, device exploitation, and blocking network traffic.

TECHNICAL DETAILS
The size and scope of the infrastructure impacted by VPNFilter malware is significant. The malware targets routers produced by several manufacturers and network-attached storage devices by at least one manufacturer. The initial infection vector for this malware is currently unknown.

THREAT
VPNFilter is able to render small office and home office routers inoperable. The malware can potentially also collect information passing through the router. Detection and analysis of the malware’s network activity is complicated by its use of encryption and misattributable networks.

DEFENSE
The FBI recommends any owner of small office and home office routers reboot the devices to temporarily disrupt the malware and aid the potential identification of infected devices….

You can read it in its original form here.