Technoglitch
Core Member
Security researchers say they have uncovered previously unknown attacks on routers which direct traffic around the Internet, allowing hackers to harvest vast amounts of data while going undetected by existing cyber security defenses.
The attacks replace the operating system used in network equipment from Cisco , the world's biggest maker of routers, the computer forensic arm of U.S. security research firm FireEye , Mandiant, said on Tuesday.
So far, Mandiant has found 14 instances of router implants in India, Mexico, Philippines and Ukraine, the company said in a blog post.
Separately, Cisco confirmed that it had alerted customers to these attacks on Cisco operating system software platforms.
"If you own (seize control of) the router, you own the data of all the companies and government organizations that sit behind that router," FireEye Chief Executive Dave DeWalt said of his company’s discovery.
Routers operate outside the perimeter of firewalls, anti-virus and other security tools which organizations around the world use to safeguard data traffic.
Effectively, the $80 billion which technology market research firm IDC estimates is spent annually on cyber security tools offer no protection against this form of attack, according to FireEye.
The malicious program has been dubbed "SYNful", a reference to how the implanted software can jump from router to router using their syndication functions.
Cisco router attacks duck cyber defenses, hit four countries | TODAYonline
The attacks replace the operating system used in network equipment from Cisco , the world's biggest maker of routers, the computer forensic arm of U.S. security research firm FireEye , Mandiant, said on Tuesday.
So far, Mandiant has found 14 instances of router implants in India, Mexico, Philippines and Ukraine, the company said in a blog post.
Separately, Cisco confirmed that it had alerted customers to these attacks on Cisco operating system software platforms.
"If you own (seize control of) the router, you own the data of all the companies and government organizations that sit behind that router," FireEye Chief Executive Dave DeWalt said of his company’s discovery.
Routers operate outside the perimeter of firewalls, anti-virus and other security tools which organizations around the world use to safeguard data traffic.
Effectively, the $80 billion which technology market research firm IDC estimates is spent annually on cyber security tools offer no protection against this form of attack, according to FireEye.
The malicious program has been dubbed "SYNful", a reference to how the implanted software can jump from router to router using their syndication functions.
Cisco router attacks duck cyber defenses, hit four countries | TODAYonline
