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Why use a firewall if you have a router?

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Tuesday, August 8, 2017

One of Dr.Web Firewall's key tasks is to thwart any attempts by attackers and malware to penetrate a system. Meanwhile, home computers often access the Internet via a router. The latter is usually equipped with a firewall of its own. Hence, the question arises: Is the Dr.Web Firewall necessary in this case?

WikiLeaks released information about yet another set of CIA exploits; this one was being used to attack routers belonging to the top 10 manufacturers, including Linksys, Dlink, and Belkin. These devices are vulnerable to a remote attack even if a strong administrator password is being used.

According to WikiLeaks, the malware was used to circumvent the security of about 25 router models. If a modification is applied to the framework, the array of vulnerable devices will extend by another 100 models.

The framework was dubbed CherryBlossom.

It enabled attackers to monitor and manipulate inbound and outbound traffic. One of the framework's exploits, dubbed Tomato, enabled attackers to extract passwords of any length.

#drweb

CIA operators were also able to infect any devices connected to a compromised router. Users could be targeted by their IP and MAC addresses, as well as their emails, nicknames, and VoIP numbers. Attackers could monitor the traffic of a specific user or make the user’s browser grant them access to the current user session.

As a rule, Trojans that infect routers do modify traffic, say, by adding ads onto webpages. But they can also plant a malicious URL into page code or replace a file that is being downloaded with malware but have it retain the same name.

You are unlikely to become a CIA or NSA target, but as the WannaCry outbreak has already demonstrated, criminals can use information about vulnerabilities to orchestrate attacks of their own. And if your device is not on the list, don’t despair: the leaked data is dated August 2012, so it is quite possible that the current CIA list of vulnerable targets does include it.

#firewall #Dr.Web

The Anti-virus Times recommends

Updating firmware on a router or other sophisticated device is difficult to do for inexperienced users. If a device is no longer supported by its manufacturer, that option is not even available. In this case, computers and devices inside a local network absolutely need a firewall.

The Dr.Web Firewall can also restrict Internet access for running applications. For example, neither MS Word nor Excel is supposed to use the Internet, and if you've opened a document and it starts trying to access the Web, the wheels in your head should start turning.

In sum, an anti-virus doesn't include useless components.

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