Posted on 06/04/2004 3:51:31 PM PDT by TomServo
Cisco Systems has issued a patch for a security flaw in one of its Linksys routers that could give hackers access to consumers' home networks.
Alan Rateliff II, an independent security consultant, on Friday said he discovered a vulnerability in the Linksys WRTS54G 802.11g wireless router. The flaw gives hackers a free pass into the Web-based configuration page of the router when the firewall function is turned off.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.com ...
Some practical notes on this, lifted from another forum:
To verify the vulnerability:
1) Obtain the WAN IP address from the Router status page.
2) Surf to that address using your favorite web browser (make sure that the browser hits the local network - i.e. no proxy, or AOL browser, etc). Because of ISP blocking, I suggest doing this from the internal network.
3) If the administration password prompt appears, the unit is vulnerable.
Users should take the following action:
1) Assign a strong password for the administrative function on the unit. A strong password consists of a random string of letters (mixed case), digits, and, where possible, special characters. This is important to do with all models and all brands. Many users install broadband routers while leaving the default password in place which is a huge security hole.
2) On the router administration page, under the Games tab on the WRT54G (elsewhere on other units), turn on port forwarding for ports 80 and 443, and forward the traffic to an unused IP address. The units are usually configured to start DHCP addresses at .100, so using 192.168.1.50 should be safe in most cases.
3) There are some reports that units were shipped with the firewall disabled by default, so while the users are logged in, they should verify that the firewall is active.
4) Monitor the Linksys website and apply a firmware upgrade (which is hopefully under development) as soon as it's available.
Sounds like the Ford SUV lawsuit ... turn a tight corner, at very high speed, with underinflated tires, and you may turn over....'
the lawsuit claims Ford has known about this "defect"!
Well....DUH!
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The one that you have shown will support up to 4 computers.
If you're gonna have just one computer hooked up, just get the BEFSR11. You can probably save 20-30 bucks...
What D-Link router would you recommend for connecting a desktop and a laptop to our "home network"? And do I need to know what I will be connecting to the network besides those 2 computers? (as you can see I know nothing).
OK - now I see. You'll need the 4-port version - BEFSR41. That is - if you go with the LinkSys.
Wow you mean I actually "chose" the right one to consider? ;)
Here's where I'm not so sure I know what I am doing. We have a desktop, connected to DSL. Does the printer/scanner/copier thing matter to the router? Or does the router only cover the computers themselves as far as internet connections? I've heard so many different definitions I'm not sure what it means.
What I want to do is:
connect our laptop to our current DSL line & be able to print/scan, etc from the laptop on our current machines. I can do this with a router, yes?
I'm making sense, I hope.
What is this? Do you mean just keeping it clean? ;)
That was scary.
I don't think you scanner idea is gonna pan out for reasons I won't go into.
Thank you SO much! ;)
No problem. FReepmail me if you need to..
A simple way to get rid of a lot of windows problems is to get rid of IE and outlook. Switch to Mozilla, it's free. No popups and none of the email BS.
Ping.
I use the D-link DI-624 Wireless Router (Airplus Extreme-G) for the desktop, and corresponding PCMCIA wirelss card for the laptop (if you use "Extreme-G" products for both laptop and desktop, you get better throughput--D-link has its own "higher-speed" protocol that works between two of its own products---though they also work just fine at normal "G" connection speeds with other PCMCIA wireless cards).
You can connect the DI-624 to the desktop by installing a network card OR by USB cable (both type cables come with the router), but as I understand it, throughput is better with the network card. Other than that, just follow the instructions that come with the D-link. There are lots of "how-to" instructions to be found on the net.
Bump for later perusal
I have this one but need something faster, laptop can't get to netdisk.
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