Netgear routers heads up

kwikbreaks

Just had two emails about firmware updates for Netgear routers I have owned. One is a freebie I had from VM quite a long time ago and never actually used - a WNR2000v2. It was so long ago I was surprised they had released new firmware and even more surprised by the email as there had been earlier releases but no email'

Anyway the release notes are very brief one (the d7000 which I returned as useless) just says "Improved security" . The WNR2000v2 is equally brief but more informative - it says "Fixed the DNS flooding issue" Now if that means what I think it does then it's quite a serious problem - I think it means that your router can be hacked and turned into part of a big DoS botnet.

This was two pretty different routers so could well apply a cross the Netgear range. If you have a Netgear router but never bothered to register it I'd recommend you check the Netgear site to check for a firmaware upgrade.

Having your router as part of a botnet is going to play hell with your broadband performance, may upset you ISP, and could cost you money if you have a limited bandwidth connection.

System

Hi

There is/was a firmware update hopefully rolled out by VM a few weeks ago to counter such a thing, el reg has this...

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/06/12/virgin_media_router_vuln/

so I would do what you can to mitigate your vulnerability (big words make me seem intelligent).

kwikbreaks

That's almost certainly a different issue, The security issue I'm guessing they are currently fixing isn't limited to VM devices. VM will force that update and no user input would be required,

kwikbreaks

Not if you had the Netgear D7000 as it isn't supported, Nor is my Asus DSL-AC68U.

I did install it on a Buffalo router many years ago and liked it - especially the traffic monitoring and QoS.