WiFi Router Viruses

I think I got it from those streaming video sites. Damn you Mad Men.

This is weird, but it happened to me. Lately I noticed that Google links weren’t working and my Google search page had a ‘Google Kindle’ link at the bottom, which they don’t sell. This wasn’t just on my PC, it affected my iPad and everything on the WiFi network. So I figured the virus/malware was on the WiFi router, which it was. Which is a trip. Anyways, here’s the symptoms and a cure.

Symptoms

This malware seems to work by hijacking Amazon and Google to point to their affiliate links. Therefore they get a commission for each thing you buy, and I actually do buy a lot. Those assholes. This is just one symptom that I’m aware of. I do a lot of banking and purchasing online so anyone having that level of access to my shizz is terrifying.

Cure

Basically, reset your router and change the password. WiFi routers tend to have default passwords (ie, admin/admin) so I guess that’s how the hack gets in. I went to my router, shoved a pen in the reset hole and reset it. I then went to 192.168.1.1 (the address may vary, check your router settings and call your ISP) and went through the wizard to setup a new connection. Luckily I had the SLT username/pass around. Otherwise you’ll need to call your ISP. I can say that for SLT on a TP-8816 router the settings are basically default. Again, call for your particular situ.

And then I dug through the settings and changed the password. And that’s about it. Seems virus/malware free for now. I haven’t used Windows for years and haven’t worried about stuff. It’s scary that viruses can now infect the damn router.

4 Comments

  1. Out of curiosity, what OS are you using now? After a few years of slogging it on a laptop I’m finally moving back to a desktop, built to good specs, with the intention of having the OS on a SSD drive – leaning on Win 7, but could give Linux a try if I can learn it in due time.

  2. Ubuntu is a good sane choice and you won’t miss Win 7 unless you want to play games.
    You can have them dual boot if you still want to use W7.

  3. I probably go to your comp through the internet and then hacked to root to transmit to other macs iOS devices in the network. Mac are not safe, they haven’t been safe for years. Now with enough macs out there, hackers are going to go to town on them. Especially given relative ignorance of the mac userbase

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