Why is the FBI asking everyone to reboot their routers?
On Friday, May 25th, the FBI released an announcement encouraging everyone to reboot their router to help the government disrupt a botnet from a Russian hacking group. According to the FBI, rebooting your router will destroy the part of the malware that can spy on your activities. Router manufacturers like Linksys, MikroTik, Netgear, QNAP, and TP-Link have already been identified as routers that need to update their routers’ software.
What Does This Mean For You?
The good news is, if you are a customer at Utility Telecom you are at low risk of the cyber attack. Utility Telecom does not use or install any of the routers that have been identified. This issue will primarily affect residential routers, which is great news for businesses. Nevertheless, Utility Telecom’s engineers and IT department are proactively keeping a close eye on this issue, and are constantly examining the back-end to ensure customer safety.
What Should You Do?
Utility Telecom still encourages you to reset any default passwords. For example “1234,” on your router to prevent attacks. Many routers come with default passwords that owners never reset, which can increase the chance of attacks. If you feel the need to reboot your router, this can be done by pressing the reset button, and will not negatively affect anything in regards to your connection. Lastly, network devices should be upgraded to the latest available versions of firmware as advised by the FBI.
If you have any further questions regarding this issue please reach out to one of our customer service representatives at 877.965.7800 who can further assist you.