TheMoon Attack : FBI Warns Americans About Security Risk
On the 7th of May, the FBI raised an awareness about the recent rise in the cases of Cyber attacks on home appliances. The attack, identified as “The Moon“, is an attack launched at phones and computers that are out-of-date, as they lack updated security to fight against such attacks,
First discovered in 2014 on a compromised device, this increase in the occurrence of this attack is owing to the increasing reliance in the use of Internet devices by the public. Hence, every appliance that is out-of-date is highly at risk.
The public has been advised to update routers that have reached their end of life, which was defined as the period when there is no longer security support for them and no longer receive updates.
In their statement, the FBI said :
“End of life routers were breached by cyber actors using variants of TheMoon malware botnet. Recently, some routers at end of life, with remote administration turned on, were identified as compromised by a new variant of TheMoon malware. This malware allows cyber actors to install proxies on unsuspecting victim routers and conduct cyber crimes anonymously.“
The FBI also advised the public to update active routers with the latest security patches and firmware updates : “”Login online to the router settings and disable remote management/remote administration, save the change, and reboot the router. Use strong passwords that are unique and random and contain at least 16 but no more than 64 characters. Avoid reusing passwords and disable password hints. If you believe there is suspicious activity on any device, apply any necessary security and firmware updates, change your password, and reboot the router.“
In an efforts to mitigate existing attacks, FBI requests that anyone under this Cyber attack should report to the FBI Internet Crime Complain Center (IC3), along with crucial details, like the account provider.
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