MADRID – The Guardia Civil has alerted us via Twitter to a cyber security threat for those using ASUS routers.
This is following a report due to research carried out by cybersecurity company, TrendMicro. They warn of vulnerabilities that ASUS brand routers have that could make them the target of “Cyclops Blink” botnet.
What is a Botnet?
A botnet is a network of devices infected with the same malware. Moreover, cybercriminals use this to launch cyberattacks, such as mass sending of spam emails, denial of service or DDoS attacks, credential theft, etc.
According to TrendMicro, the first investigations indicate they are affecting ASUS routers. Furthermore, affected devices can be found in the ASUS security bulletin.
⚠️#ALERTA❗
Investigadores de TrendMicro han publicado un informe que alerta de las vulnerabilidades de los routers de ASUS y que estarían siendo objetivo de la botnet “Cyclops Blink”. Una botnet es una red de dispositivos infectados con el mismo #malwarehttps://t.co/WFINS3YvVB pic.twitter.com/6tBAT9pUrE— Guardia Civil 🇪🇸 (@guardiacivil) March 18, 2022
ASUS recommendations
If you have been affected by this, ASUS recommends, first of all, to reset your device to factory default settings. Then, update all your devices to the latest firmware version. Next, you should change the default administrator password to one that is more secure. And finally, disable remote administration. ´
TrendMicro researchers continue to suggest the primary goal of the “Cyclops Blink” botnet could be to build an infrastructure for new attacks on high-value targets. Furthermore, according to the affected models, there would be more than 3,500 routers likely to be vulnerable to this threat in Spain.
Viruses threat
A botnet is a threat capable of remotely controlling computers to spread viruses, generate spam and commit other types of crimes and fraud on the net. This is a dangerous situation for a router, because it could access the configuration and modify it.
