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The US government warns that Russia state hackers are coming after your router

With residential proxies all the rage, CISA urges router users to be vigilant.

The US government warns that Russia state hackers are coming after your router

TL;DR

  • Russian state hackers are compromising home and small office routers to mask malicious activities against public and private sector organizations.
  • The primary method of compromise involves exploiting poorly configured routers with active SNMP agents that accept default authentication credentials.
  • Compromised routers are used as exit nodes to probe or attack targets in communications, defense, energy, financial services, and government sectors.
  • The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) advises users to disable SNMP versions 1 and 2, prefer SNMP version 3, or disable SNMP entirely.
  • Other recommended security measures include disabling Cisco Smart Install, using strong passwords, updating firmware regularly, and avoiding specific networking protocols.