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Home routers are open to attacks, as Huawei
'backdoor' shows.
Fox News, 4 May 2019: Earlier this week, Internet security firm, told Fox News in a state-
Bloomberg reported that home routers supplied ment. Jones said routers from D-Link, Cisco/
by Chinese electronics giant Huawei to UK- Linksys/Netgear, TP-Link, Zyxel and other
based Vodafone possessed a backdoor. At a well-known brands have all been found to
high level, this is a U.S. national security prob- have backdoors. "So there's no need for con-
lem. The Trump administration, including the sumers to be any more worried about Huawei
FBI and Department of Homeland Security, routers than any others," he added. Avast sug-
has repeatedly been saying at public forums gest steps such as installing your router in a
that Huawei's equipment is a vehicle for Chi- safe place "where the wireless signal is availa-
nese government espionage. Most recently, ble only inside your own house. Avoid placing
the U.S. is advising against the adoption of it near a window." Other suggestions include:
Huawei 5G hardware for the next generation of turn off the older WPS security setting and turn
mobile networks. But the vulnerability also on WPA2 encryption, change the default ad-
points to a problem closer to home. Backdoors min username and password to a strong pass-
can allow hackers to break into your home word, upgrade your router firmware, don't' for-
router and get into any connected device in get to log out after managing the router and
your home. The problem lies in old firmware, disable remote management of the router over
default passwords, and a host of other configu- the internet.
ration issues. After a hacker breaches the ===================================
they typically target the software that controls Ready for a new
router's Wi-Fi security and login page, then
the router, the so-called firmware. Then, in a
process known as "rootkitting," a hacker drops iPad
custom, malicious firmware into the router.
"Depending on the goals and resources of By Jasmine D’Katz
an attacker, this can include spying on the user
and any connected devices [and] injecting mal- Apple had just announced two new iPad to be
ware into the browser to exploit connected de- released at the end of March. The iPad Air
vices". "The 'backdoor' that Bloomberg refers with a 10.5-inch Retina display will start at
to is Telnet, a protocol commonly used by $499. It will have the same A10 Bionic proces-
many vendors in the industry for performing sor as in the iPhone XS, The iPad Mini for
diagnostic functions. It would not have been $399 and will replace the iPad Mini 4 but basi-
accessible from the internet," the spokesper- cally has the same design.
son added. "In our experience, backdoors are The iPad Air display resolution (2,224X1,669-
very often found on home routers, regardless pixel) and unlike the one announced in Octo-
of the vendor," Jimmy Jones, Telecom Busi- ber, it will support the Apple Pencil. It will be
ness Unit Lead at Positive Technologies, an
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