Security tester Phil Purviance has gone public with his findings on a popular router that widely sold to consumers and small businesses. He sums it up succinctly:
…any network with an EA2700 router on it is an insecure network!
The router in question is commonly found at big box retailers like Fry’s Electronics, Best Buy and pretty much any retailer that sells consumer electronics. Purviance reported his findings to Cisco over a month ago, but the hardware giant has yet to comment or issue any fixes to the public.
What this means for you:
If you are using a Cisco Linksys EA2700 router for your internet connection, your device and any computer connected to the EA2700 is at risk. Seeing as most folks aren’t even aware that their routers have software/firmware that can be upgraded, it’s likely that even if Cisco were to fix all the vulnerabilities outlined by Purviance, those fixes are unlikely to be applied by most consumers and small businesses. At the moment, the only true fix for the EA2700 is to replace it with something else, but with what? Researchers are still playing catch-up in this space, as there are literally hundreds models of consumer-grade routers installed in the US alone.
As a business owner, you should consider upgrading to a business-class router from a major manufacturer like Dell, Cisco, Fortinet, etc. (Cisco’s business-class equipment, ironically, is typically considered a standard choice). At the very minimum, understand what you have installed, upgrade the firmware if possible, and check with your local IT professional (C2 is always there to answer your questions!) to determine if there are any widely known exploits published about your particular router model.
