One of the Greatest Threats Facing the Iot: Router Security
Why routers are among the most vulnerable devices in the IoT - and what we can do to protect them
By Nitzan Daube, CTO, NanoLock Security
The IoT is a growing piece of the puzzle for daily life in today’s modern technological age, and networks
are at the center of this growth. Nowadays, you’d be hard-pressed to find a commercial, residential or
even public outdoor area that does not have at least one router on a network. Homes, businesses, cities,
and public infrastructure are all using WiFi, and it is not uncommon to see even basic home routers with
multiple devices sitting on them at a time. But with millions of new routers being set up daily comes an
increased security risk – and hackers and cyber terrorists are taking note.
Routers are notoriously known for their vulnerability and susceptibility to attack. According to a 2018
quarterly report from security firm eSentire, the group found a 539% increase in attacks targeting routers
since 2017, and research from the American Consumer Institute (ACI) found that five out of every six, or
83%, of WiFi routers in US homes and offices leave their users at risk of cyberattacks, due to inadequately
updated firmware for security vulnerabilities.
Many attackers will enter unsecure routers by remotely gaining access to the device, often via the CPU,
and then installing malware that can then be used to collect data, gain access to additional routers, and
cause irreparable damage to the device. In 2018, hackers conducted such an attack on a large-scale
with the VPNFilter malware attack that infected over 500,000 consumer routers globally, calling special