It’s no secret that I absolutely hate non-business/home-based ( ADSL/3G/other ) routers. From a security point of view, they have a history of never-ending security issues that result in a variety of malicious attacks including DNS reflection, remote control, spam, malware infections and other attacks.
There are other serious issues including ( but not limited to ):
- vendors of these devices are slow to react to vulnerabilities and often don’t even patch these
- users either don’t know that updates are available, don’t know how to apply patches/updates or just can’t be bothered to apply updates
- the firewall/protection features of these devices are limited
- there are common back-doors included in many of these devices which opens up access to attackers
Because non-business grade routers/firewalls don’t carry any sort of guarantee or warranty in terms of performance, vendors do not put ( as much ) effort into these in terms of keeping them secure. The following link describes just how bad the situation is:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/03/05/broadband_routers_sohopeless_and_vendors_dont_care/
If you have any concern over your internet security or use your internet link for any secure services ( like online shopping or internet banking ), consider purchasing/using a business-grade firewall that will:
- provide you with a decent level of protection
- be updated regularly by the manufacturer
Keeping your desktop computers, laptops and mobile devices safe is only one part of home security. You also need to look at the security of your network devices including routers, printers and WiFi access points as these are an important point of access to your home network and can compromise your systems as easily as a virus on your computer.