The majority of Internet-connected households in Singapore are at risk of getting attacked through their wireless router, according to a recent study conducted by Avast Software.
Surveying more than 500 households in Singapore, Avast found that about another half of consumers use their address, name, phone number, street name, or other easily guessed terms as their passwords.
The Internet of Things is present in Singaporean households, with 81% of wired households in Singapore have four or more devices connected to a Wi-Fi network.
One of the biggest risks on any Wi-Fi network is Domain Name System (DNS) hijacking. Malware is used to exploit vulnerabilities in a user’s unprotected router and surreptitiously redirects the user from a known site, such as a bank website, to a fake site that looks just like the real thing. When the user logs in, thieves capture the user’s login credentials and then use them to access the real site.
“Unsecured routers create an easy entry point for hackers to attack millions of Singaporean home networks,” said Vince Steckler, chief executive officer of Avast.
“Our research revealed that the majority of home routers in Singaporearen’t secure. If a router is not properly secured, cybercriminals can easily gain access to an individual’s personal information, including financial information, user names and passwords,photos, and browsing history.”
Avast found that more than half of all routers are poorly protected by default or common, easilyhacked password combinations such as admin/admin or admin/password, or even admin/.