New Worm Infects Modems and Routers
A new worm that attacks DSL modems and routers rather than PCs has been discovered. The botnet appears in devices running embedded Linux distribution.
According to a report by DroneBL, the botnet doesn’t target Windows systems. However, computer users who have a PC that uses Linux software may be exposed to the malicious worm.
A botnet is a computer connected to the Internetthat has been set up to forward transmissions such as spam and viruses toother computers on the Web without the knowledge of the computer owner. A PC that has been infected in this way may run slower and sometimes the user may be required to get his computer repaired.
Experts as DroneBL believe that the lethal worm, which has been named "psyb0t," is the first one to target home networking gear. According to the report, it has already infected some 100,000 computer systems.
“This technique is one to be extremely concerned about because most end users will not know their network has been hacked, or that their router is exploited,” DroneBL researchers wrote in their blog. “This means that in the future, this could be an attack vector for the theft of personally identifying information.”
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http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2343735,00.asp
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