Drive-By Pharming: home users vulnerable to router attacks

[mandy]

Home network users could be vulnerable to attacks from hackers who can alter the configuration of a broadband router or wireless access point. Symantec released its "Drive-By Pharming" attacks report Thursday, roughly two months after security researchers at Symantec and Indiana University first published their conclusions in a white paper last December.

"I believe this attack has serious widespread implications and affects many millions of users worldwide," Zulfikar Ramzan, a senior principal researcher at Symantec, wrote on the company's Security Response blog. "Fortunately, this attack is easy to defend against as well."

The problem stems from inexpensive plug-and-play broadband routers, according to the researchers' proof-of-concept. These devices are shipped from the factory with a default password that most home users would never think to change. Hackers, however, are aware of the risk these unchanged passwords pose when combined with a Web site that includes malicious JavaScript code...

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