Default settings leave external hard drives connected to Asus routers wide open

January 09, 2014

Files on thousands of hard drives connected to broadband routers from Asus are easily accessible over the Internet due to unsecure default settings, according to industry experts and tests conducted by PC World Norway and TechWorld Sweden.Broadband routers with USB ports that allow users to connect external hard drives have become increasingly common. Shared storage that can be remotely accessed via the Internet using protocols such as FTP is convenient, but it also comes with security implications.If products aren’t configured correctly, personal data can become accessible to anyone with basic technical knowledge, which is what has happened to owners of routers from Asus, reports PC World Norway.The problem stems from how the routers are configured. Access to an external hard drive that’s been attached to a router’s USB port using FTP can be activated manually or by using a wizard, but both leave the router open by default.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Link: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2086280/default-settings-leave-external-hard-drives-connected-to-asus-routers-wide-open.html#tk.rss_all