Washington Post: Dust off your home WiFi router

An excerpt from the Washington Post article, ‘Dust off your home WiFi router: It needs some upkeep to stay secure’ 

Within minutes of going online, routers become targets for hackers, cybersecurity experts say. Some cybercriminals steal the router’s computing power to mint cryptocurrency such as bitcoin — and run up your electricity bill. Others make off with your data after using your router to grab remote access to your computers. Some even put fake error messages up on connected gadgets like smart TVs, urging you to call a phony customer service number.

You can sidestep most of these risks with some simple router maintenance. One day a year is all it takes to stay secure, says Brian Contos, chief security officer at Phosphorus Cybersecurity.

“Maybe on April Fools’ Day every year I’m going to take a look and see if there’s any updates or changes that I need to worry about because the risks on the back end of not doing anything are actually growing,” Contos said.

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