A guide to inspecting malicious attack and solution for the router

By | Jan 29, 2021

The router provides a way to connect multiple devices to access the internet; it can be wired or wireless. If it gets trapped or attacked by any virus it will destroy the connection and can put you in an unfamiliar and vulnerable situation.

You should be attentive to the network path and services. If your router gets stuck in malicious mode you will notice a few significant negative impacts on the process of devices. 

Notice the reasons if your router becomes the target of the malware or not?

  • Over the network, data is available on secure and unsecured networks you have to be careful about HTTPS and HTTP websites if these are the original ones that you are looking for or different from usual. Sometimes to execute malicious things these sites become the reason. Access or click only those websites that are secure you can see the lock icon visible on the URL starting.
  • Ransomware is also considered as the producer of malicious agents.
  • If your phone or PC takes time to boot or it is processing slower than usual.
  • If you are receiving the pop-up or messages to install antivirus software on your computer or phone.
  • If your CPU usage is a huge amount.
  • If you have downloaded any applications in recent days but that is available on your computer or phone.
  • Sometimes while you are trying to connect over the internet or accessing the search results it takes you to unknown paths/websites or tabs that contain the malicious software.
  • If your device encountered any type of malware,  it will restrict you to navigate the different apps and services. The reason is someone has made changes to your credentials.

Types of malware that hit the router

Switcher Trozen 

It is malware that impacts android devices if switcher Trozen gets successful to find out a way to make changes in the router’s DNS. It will direct the user to the non-reliable sites or link the user with cybercriminals. This malware was first recognized in the year 2016. The cyber hacker who has sent this malware to your device can check the impact of the malicious device.

VPN Filter

This malware attack on the router and enables the hackers to see the credentials if you ignore this action you won’t be able to interact with the device.

5 things to secure your router

If you want to know how to manage the infected router you can read the below instructions.

Backup the device data

Whether it’s a phone or desktop or laptop you should always take the backup of your important data. In case the device behaves in an irreversible way your data will be safe.

Antivirus Software

If your router is infected with the malware it will put your device at risk. To deal with the infected router antivirus software is available in the techno world that you can install on your computer or laptop to remove the malicious software/ unreliable agents over the network and tech hearts and attacks. Android users can install McAfee mobile security software. You can search over the web to know the high-performance based antivirus software for Windows and Mac systems.

Window 10 PC users have in-built antivirus software on their system known as Windows Defender that reduce the risk of malicious activities and attacks. You can quickly scan or full scan the system to check the security of your PC.

Factory Reset your Router

While our phone does not behave properly and when all the ways get failed and also we have taken the backup of data stored on your devices. One thing that can work the best for you is the factory reset. You can practice this method with the router too.

If the router is infected by the VPN filter factory reset is the best thing to do. If you don’t know the right way to do this just follow the instructions mentioned in the user manual. You can take a paper clip and press the small button located behind for at least 15 seconds. This thing will help you to restore the default settings by removing the malware.

Upgradation of Firmware

ISP companies provide access to web services over the internet to ease these services a router is set up at your place of business, which should be updated over time. In the occurrence of any malicious agent/ software you just upgrade the firmware from the company’s website. It wil make the required arrangements to resolve the security risks, viruses, and malware attacks.

Administrator Password

Changing the passwords over time is a reliable way to secure your router. As you have done with the factory resetting, change the administrator passwords of the Wi-Fi router. While you are making changes to the administrator password it will impact the router settings. Like security modes, encryption mode, SSID wireless network, etc.

Way to change the IP address of the router?

All the above-mentioned ways can apply when malware and extruders have got access. Here we are giving you extra-ordinary security tips to secure the router and system from malicious attacks.

You can do this by making changes to the IP address. This way will be helpful for the windows Pc user.

Every router device has its Internet protocol Address in short it is known as an IP address. If you forgot where you have kept the user manual here we are going to define you in an alternative way.

  • Go to Settings
  • Locate the Network and Internet Settings.
  • Locate the status option inside this network settings tab.
  • Now look for the Network Properties.
  • A new window will pop-up in front of you with all the network properties.
  • Locate the default gateway to inspect the IP address.

Search this IP address on the web browser.

A dialog box will open asking for your credentials(password and username).

After that, a router setting page will open. Select the basic> LAN setup > here you can see the private LAN IP address, you can change the last two field values but that should be from 1 to 254.

Don’t ever try to make changes in the first two fields as it may disturb the network accessibility and functionality chances are that you may lose the connection too.

Write down this new IP address somewhere it can be secure and if required in the future you can access it.

After typing the new IP address, save the changes. Once you are done with all the processes turn on the router.

The thing to remind:

As the new IP address defined with the router, chances are the connection gets lost for a while and you can’t access the services over the web. In that situation, you don’t have to be panic about it, just simply turn off the button of the router from the backside and wait for 10 sec. And then again turn on the router everything will be sorted and you will continue to access internet service.

To know if everything is done successfully or not you can type this new IP address into the web browser and check the status. If the credentials are approved successfully it means you have successfully set up your router and now you don’t have to worry about malicious attacks on the router.