Over 100,000 Zyxel firewalls, VPN gateways at hacking risk: Report

Dutch cybersecurity researchers have discovered backdoor account in 100,000 networking devices manufactured by Zyxel, that can grant hackers access to those vulnerable devices and put data at risk

Topics
cyber security | Hackers | Hacking

IANS  |  New Delhi 

The coronavirus pandemic has prompted one of the fastest peacetime mission shifts in recent times for the world’s intelligence agencies
Representative image

Dutch cybersecurity researchers have discovered backdoor account in over 1 lakh networking devices manufactured by Taiwan-based company Zyxel, that can grant access to those vulnerable devices and put data at risk.

The backdoor account, discovered by a team of Dutch security researchers from Eye Control, is considered as bad as it gets in terms of vulnerabilities, ZDNet reported on Saturday.

"Affected models include many of Zyxel's top products from its line of business-grade devices, usually deployed across private enterprise and government networks," the report mentioned.

More than 1 lakh Zyxel firewalls, VPN gateways and access point controllers were reported to have been compromised by the hardcoded admin-level backdoor account.

Zyxel has issued a security patch "for the hardcoded credential vulnerability of firewalls and AP controllers recently reported by researchers from Eye Control Netherlands".

Users are advised to install the applicable firmware updates for optimal protection, the company said in an update.

State-sponsored and ransomware groupd can abuse this backdoor account to access vulnerable devices.

"Affected models include many of Zyxel's top products from its line of business-grade devices, usually deployed across private enterprise and government networks," the report mentioned on Friday.

--IANS

na/

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Dear Reader,


Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.

As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.

Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.

Digital Editor

Read our full coverage on cyber security
First Published: Sat, January 02 2021. 10:51 IST
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU