virus on my router?

[jamesn]

hi. total noob here. nice site. my 11 year old went somewhere he should not have been going (again) and he clicked on something he should not have clicked on (again) and this time he caught a virus that took out all 3 household computers. never did figure out what it was. we had to reinstall windows on all of them. he did not have access to my office computer so we believe that whatever we had came in via the router. i know jack squat about these things. i have one of them going directly into the modem. my local computer service provider recommended that i just get a new router. is he full of crap? can my router still have something on it? i dunno. does anybody know?

thanks.

[fordem]

Punctuation works wonders for making things easier to read - and why should we have to struggle to understand you, just so that we can answer your question?

It might also help if you told us what sort of router you have.

Oh - you have one of what going directly into the modem?

It's not impossible for a router to be infected with a virus - especially if it's running some form of linux as it's operating system - but - it's quite unlikely, and even if it did happen, just switch the thing off and back on or reset it.

Now - from a different angle - did the service provider tell you he thought the router had a virus? The suggestion that you get a new one may have come from a completely different angle.

Protection - the early routers just route - later models come with firewalls and all sorts of other goodies to keep you safe - AND - parental controls that can supposedly keep that 11 year old from going where he shouldn't

[jamesn]

i have an WGR614 v6. i was told that i may have to reinstall the firmware. i was also told that it may be infected. if it is still infected, how can i install the firmware without connecting it to the computer and risking another infection?

does anybody know?

[jmizoguchi]

Moving to Super-G (108 Mbps) & 802.11g (54 Mbps) Routers

[jmizoguchi]

router will not infect PC but if the PC gets virus (w32 type virus...) those virus can spread to LAN network and infects the other PC on same network

[Mars Mug]

If you have wireless enabled but no security set then it’s possible (though very rare) for someone to upload firmware to the router, and that firmware can easily be modified to do things that the standard firmware does not do, effectively a virus.

If you are operating the router with wireless enabled but no security set then this sort of thing could have happened. In that case you can download the current version of firmware from here; http://kbserver.netgear.com/products/wgr614v6.asp to your PC hard drive, then log into the router and upload the firmware, assuming this is still possible. If you do manage to upload the firmware then you will need to follow the instructions in the manual to ‘factory reset’ the router, then set it up again, and lastly either make sure wireless is disabled, or if you want to use it set up WPA security.

[fordem]

Originally Posted by Mars Mug

If you have wireless enabled but no security set then it’s possible (though very rare) for someone to upload firmware to the router, and that firmware can easily be modified to do things that the standard firmware does not do, effectively a virus.

Actually, that would not be a virus, one of the defining things about a virus is that it has to be self-replicating, so anything that requires manual intervention to implant it cannot be classified as a virus.

Additionally - although some versions of the WGR614 did run linux, the v6 apparently runs VxWorks - which is even less likely to be infected - Microsoft Windows, because of it's widespread usage is the most attractive target for virus authors, and as the general popularity of the OS decreases, it becomes less and less of a target.

Finally - cross platform viruses (viruses with the ability to infect multiple different platforms) are quite rare. Viruses capable of infecting both Windows and linux do exist, but I have yet to hear of one capable of running on different processors (the WGR614v6 is not likely to be running an Intel or AMD processor) further reducing the possibility of the virus affecting the original poster's Windows systems also being able to infect his router or vice versa.

[decomplexity]

Since you have to start somewhere and don't know what could still be infected, your best plan is to acquire a good antivirus system (e.g. Kasperksy) and a good antispyware system or two (e.g. Webroot Spysweeper or PC Tools Spyware Doctor) - even if you have to download them via someone else's PC - and sanitise each PC, one after the other (deinstalling and reinstalling each time - or buy multiple licences)
Then acquire a good personal firewall (the old free ones such as Sygate or Kerio are fine; ask if you need a link) and install on each PC.
Then assume your router is not infected (the likelihood is very small), but if you want to be double-sure, reset it (from its internal read-only copy which will not be infected) but you may then need assistance to reconfigure it.

Do use the parental controls which will come with the personal firewall or, if you use a Suite such as Zone Alarm or Symantec/Norton - with the suite.

Check if the interlinking between your PCs is necessary; prune what isn't (particularly if you are sharing folders)

Finally, set all your PCs to run in User mode (password protect Admin mode and keep it for when software updates or updated drivers are needed)

[simple]

Originally Posted by jamesn

is he full of crap?
thanks.

yes .............