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A New Backdoor to Cyber-Crime

Adam Harling Mar 21, 2014 12:00:00 AM

Over the past few years, the level of business cyber-crime has risen dramatically. Initially the targets were large financial institutions. However as they have now put up strong defences, the hackers are turning to small and mid-size businesses.

An alarming new trend has started to emerge – businesses that use home-grade routers are now increasingly the target for hackers.

And their methods are getting more ingenious: with PC’s and Servers protected by Anti-Virus and security patches, the hackers are probing the weak spots such as the often ignored Router which handles incoming and outgoing internet communications.

What does this mean to you and your business?

Almost all business computing devices are connected directly or indirectly to a network. And the vast majority also have access to the internet via a router.  So, for example, by controlling router communications a hacker could redirect your browser from the genuine “barclays.com” to a fake Barclays.com and capture your information.  The sophistication of cybercrime is reaching an industrial scale. Software tools are now available that will quickly and easily clone any website. There are even mobile applications that make hacking routers incredibly easy for any user, not just super hackers.

Which devices are affected?

By far the most common attacks have been made on home grade routers, often those supplied free by ISP providers and telephone companies.  In some cases the hacker can take direct control of the router, in others a firmware upgrade takes place at which point all the passwords are reset and control acquired.  Remedies can range from something as simple as reconfiguring the router but ideally replacing it with a business grade router with suitable firewall protection built in.

Netitude can quickly check the status of your router and advise you on its vulnerability. Once the situation has been secured, through either configuration changes or a replacement device, then an ongoing service can ensure that security patches are regularly monitored and updated.

Get in touch today to ensure your business is protected from these new threats.