FBI, DOJ Disrupt Russian Hacking Network Using Old Wi-Fi Routers in U.S. Operation
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Jun 14
FBI, DOJ Disrupt Russian Hacking Network Using Old Wi-Fi Routers in U.S. Operation
2 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jun 14
Summary
The FBI and Justice Department said they disrupted in April the U.S. portion of a Russian military intelligence network that hijacked small office and home office routers for espionage.
APT28 — also known as Fancy Bear and linked to Russia’s GRU — exploited vulnerabilities in older routers, changed DNS settings and routed traffic through attacker-controlled servers to identify targets and steal logins, tokens and other data.
The FBI specifically flagged the TP-Link WR841N, while UK authorities listed more than 20 targeted legacy TP-Link models and warned the roster may be incomplete.
TP-Link said the cited devices reached end-of-service years ago, added that some legacy models have received updates where feasible, and urged users to install the latest firmware or replace unsupported hardware.
U.S. authorities said the takedown does not secure routers already in homes and small businesses, leaving users to change default admin credentials, disable remote management and retire outdated devices.