Your router may be at risk of being hijacked. If you’re one of the close to 1 million people who the affected DrayTek routers, you need to update your firmware right this second.
A vulnerability in the firmware could allow a crook to route your traffic to the fake sites of their choosing and steal your information or trick you into downloading malware onto your device.
You can click on this link to go to DrayTek’s site and find the latest update for your router.
DrayTek also says you should check your router settings to make sure you DNS hasn’t been rerouted.
Check your DNS and DHCP settings on your router. If you have a router supporting multiple LAN subnets, check settings for each subnet. Your DNS settings should be either blank, set to the correct DNS server addresses from your ISP or DNS server addresses of a server which you have deliberately set (e.g. Google 8.8.8.8). A known rogue DNS server is 38.134.121.95 – if you see that, your router has been changed.
In the case of DHCP, the DHCP server may be disabled, which will typically cause errors on your LAN as devices fail to be issued with IP addresses so the problem is more obvious.
If it looks like your router has been compromised, you can click here to follow DrayTek’s instructions on how to fix the issue.
Question: I have a Belken router. When I called about updates, they asked for a fee, which seemed unusual. My gut was telling me not to jump on the update until I checked the validity of the fee. Does this sound correct / legitimate?
Not really, to me. However, it may not be an update fee. It might be a tech support fee if you’re out of warranty or out of free tech support. See my comment.
Well, this software seems not to be letting me enter a new comment, just another reply.
I have a fairly new but not real high-end Netgear router. It is set automatically to check for firmware updates. If one suspects an update might be out there that hasn’t automatically appeared as available yet, there is an option to check on the Internet at the manufacturer’s web site for firmware updates, pretty much as one can do with any other program. I just checked, and Netgear says I’m on the latest.
I think everyone should learn to talk with the router. Understanding what it’s telling you can be a bit tricky, but there are many features in the interface, from security to convenience. For example, I have options, which I believe to be rather typical, to reboot the router remotely, without climbing up and physically disconnecting it, to “soft push” for WPS connections, without needing to run across the house pushing buttons, etc.
To me, the most important actions to take are renaming the default network to something of your own (no “Blinky3456”) and change the router’s default password to one personal to you. Also, use the highest encryption method supported by the devices you need to connect. I further suggest, without intending to insult any provider, you be wary of some of the remote options available from your ISP if you use its defaults.
I had a repair call on my modem a few months back. (It had passed on, so now I have a newer one.) The hotshot techie pulled out his smartphone or whatever and started punching choices. After a couple of minutes, he said, “I can’t access your network.” Ya’ think! I said, “That’s how it’s supposed to be. I can access it.”
Last, for Kathy, if you know how to access your router, or have the instructions and can figure it out, you can probably ask it to check for updates, and install them if there are any. Follow the instructions to save settings to another medium before you blithely update. As with any other update, it’s possible for something to go awry.