Crime

Police Warn Residents to Protect Home Routers From Foreign Cyber Threats

By Patrick Herron

Montgomery County Police are warning residents to take steps to secure their home internet routers amid concerns that foreign cyber actors are searching for outdated or poorly configured devices.

According to a cyber alert shared by the department, foreign state-sponsored cyber groups are scanning the internet for vulnerable home and small-business routers, particularly devices that are old, unpatched or still using factory-default settings.

The alert cites an FBI Joint Cybersecurity Advisory stating that cyber actors linked to Russia’s Federal Security Service have exploited vulnerable routers around the world. Once compromised, a router could potentially be used to monitor network activity, steal information, conceal other cyber operations or facilitate attacks on additional systems.

Police emphasized that individual residents are not necessarily being personally targeted. Instead, cyber actors can broadly scan the internet for routers with known vulnerabilities. Some warning signs that a router may be at risk include never changing its default password, failing to install firmware updates, using a router more than seven years old, seeing unknown devices connected to Wi-Fi or experiencing a sudden decline in internet performance.

The department recommends six steps for improving home router security: install the latest firmware and software updates, change default passwords, disable outdated settings and protocols, replace older routers that no longer receive security updates, limit remote access and restart the router occasionally.

Residents who need assistance configuring their routers are advised to contact their internet service provider or a qualified computer technician rather than Montgomery County Police. Anyone who believes they have been the victim of a cybercrime can report it to Montgomery County Police at 301-279-8000.

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