Dangerous Router-Eating Worm Discovered in Australia

IT specialists in Australia have discovered a botnet that is capable of controlling both routers and cable or DSL modems. The “Psyb0t” or “Network Bluepill” is capable of attacking and infecting around 50 models of routers and modems - including popular Netgear and Linksys models. So far, traditional router protection measures have not managed to stay ahead of the latest version of the cyber worm code and the implications are, if you can’t already imagine, pretty dire.

The ability to both infect and control your internet link to the outside world, as well as any equipment you might have connected to your computer, for starters. We already have TVs linked to broadband, Skype telephone services, traditional broadband and an array of other Internet-based services coming online over the next few years. Unless the cyber worm is stopped in its tracks this could cause mayhem and cost the industry billions of dollars in the short to medium term.

Traditional router security measures have proved to be inadequate with the latest version of the cyber worm code containing 6,000 usernames and 13,000 passwords.  These are used to bombard the security system on traditional routers and modems with the worm itself only detectable using specialist software. Many internet users will not be aware that their routers will not necessarily lock out multiple incorrect username or password attempts, which is potentially a huge security risk.