How to Check If Your Home Router Is Vulnerable or Not
In today’s world the internet is the main source for communication. Routers play a key role in connectivity. So, Hello Everyone, today we will look at interesting content related to Router and How to check if the Router which is used by you at the home is vulnerable or not. So let’s start and look at what is there in today’s article.
What we will tell you in this article
What is a Router?
Before beginning with our main topic, let us look about Router. A Router is a physical or a hardware device which is designed and developed to receive, analyze and move the packets from one network to the other. It has two primary functions managing the traffic between the networks and traffic management by forwarding data packets to their intended IP (Internet Protocol) Addresses and that allowance of multiple devices such as computers and laptops to be connected with the Router.
So, let us categorize the routers, which we will see in today’s article. The first one is LAN (Local Area Networks). It is a group connected within a geographical location. It requires just a single router. A LAN can be used in our college computer labs.
The other type is WAN (Wide Area Networks). As its name only describes that it is used for large networks spread out or over a vast geographic region. This network type is mostly used by big dynamic organizations that work and operate within multiple locations across the country.
How does a router work?
Coming to our one of the main aspects, let’s see how this communication device works. Let’s consider a scenario. Imagine at the airport there is an Air Traffic Controller. Its main duty is to make sure that all the flights should reach their destination without getting lost and suffering any disruptions. Similarly, a router is a controller which takes care that all the packets reach the destination. If the packets do not reach the destination, it means something fishy has happened, and you have to check it.
What does Vulnerability Mean?
The Vulnerability is the most common word used in today’s world, the meaning of this word is that it is a weakness that can be exploited or controlled by any other user who can be malicious and exploit as well as control it to violate the system or we can say system’s security policy, Basically in short of exploiting the vulnerability is to get unauthorized access in the system that can be leveraged for performing malicious activity by the attackers.
Why are Routers Vulnerable?
Anytime a doubt occurs in our mind, why does the Router is vulnerable and especially this device only. The main reason is the firmware which is the problem of vulnerable routers. So, there are two aspects of a router: the Hardware and the Software. The Hardware is the internal computer parts, and the software run’s the show. In the Router, Software is the term known as “Firmware.” As the software is very much difficult to write, even the expertise people make mistakes or bugs while writing it. This gives an entry point for the malicious users to get an entry point and perform their tasks.
The first thing to inspect when you get a router is the Router itself. Check if the Wi-Fi router is open for all or not. If it is open, it means that the Wi-Fi is not secure. For ensuring the security password should be set up from the admin panel or choose the security type such as WEP, WPA, and WPA2. WPA2 is the security type with more than ten words.
How to Check if the Router is Vulnerable or not?
Do you know there are few checks to see if the Router is vulnerable or not.? Let’s have a look at it.
1. Conduction of router connectivity and authentication tests.
Routers allow the administration and configurations by using some ports. This process can be done through the wired method through an Ethernet cable or via the wireless method. An authorized user can configure their Router via the web page, but they allow connections for the other services and ports.
2. To perform Vulnerability tests on the Routers
There is one more feature to automate this process and examine the weak points in the router settings. The tools such as, for example, Avast Antivirus, McAfee, Quick Heal, and other tools perform the tests and check the vulnerabilities. After the scan is completed in the output page is displayed with information, options, and solutions to eradicate the issues. At the same time, some of the routers offer ports scanning for vulnerabilities, the issue or trouble in DNS server application, default passwords (Majorly which is easy to crack), firmware (software) vulnerabilities, or any kind of malware attacks.
3. Verified connected devices in the network.
The third aspect of maintaining the proper function and the performance of the Router is the identification of connected devices. Sometimes due to lack of information or bad practices of the use in vulnerable protocols, there is a possibility of trusted device connectivity without proper authentication, and majorly unauthorized devices also get connected.
The Preventive Measure to avoid the Risk of Attack on the Home Router
- The most important and basic step is to set up a strong password for the Router and log into 192.168.15.1 to keep yourself more secure.
- The user should keep track of firmware updates and bugs that affect the device and restrict them to devices you use.
Conclusion
Above mentioned are the best things you can do to keep your home safe from any kind of Cyber theft or crime. Also, you can read more articles by us and find quick, easy and effective solutions to your tech related problems!