Symantec today announced VPNFilter Check, a free online tool designed to help individuals and organizations quickly and simply determine if a router may be impacted by VPNFilter malware.
"VPNFilter
poses a very serious threat to both consumers and businesses including
injecting malware and the stealing of passwords and other confidential
data," said Greg Clark, Symantec CEO. "More than half a million routers
are suspected to have been infected with VPNFilter and we urge the
public to take action to determine if their own home router has been
infected."
First reported in
May, VPNFilter targets a wide range of IoT devices such as routers and
network-attached storage (NAS) devices. VPNFilter installs a plugin
which monitors and modifies web traffic sent through the infected
router, allowing cyber criminals to inject malicious content, render
routers inoperable or steal passwords and other sensitive user
information. Symantec's VPNFilter Check determines if traffic in your
home or your company is being altered by a router infected with the
threat.
"This
malware is unlike most other IoT threats because it is capable of
maintaining a persistent presence on an infected device, even after a
reboot," said Stephen Trilling, senior vice president and general
manager, Security Analytics and Research, Symantec. "Symantec's online
VPNFilter Check tool provides individuals and organizations with an easy
way to determine if their routers have been compromised by this threat,
and suggests steps they can take if infected."
To
date, VPNFilter is known to be capable of infecting enterprise and
small or home office routers. The full list of impacted routers is
available here. To check your router for VPNFilter, please see Symantec's free VPNFilter Check tool here.
Norton Mobile Security, the Norton Core Secure WiFi Router and Symantec Endpoint Protection Mobile provide
protection from VPNFilter. The ability of VPNFilter to monitor and
alter network traffic adds to ongoing privacy concerns that have been
increasingly visible with the recent deployment of the new GDPR regulations. Symantec also offers a wide variety of privacy solutions, including Symantec VIP and Norton WiFi Privacy.
For
more information on VPNFilter, a complete list of affected devices and
best practices for both consumers and organizations, please visit the
Symantec Threat Intelligence blog.