VPNfilter, a malware that has been found on 500,000 routers (from several different makers) across 54 countries, has been discovered to carry a more diverse set of threats than previously known, according to research by Cisco’s Talos. The complex malware was designed to exploit the networks to which the routers were connected and leverage them to steal information and conduct future attacks. While the discovery of the malware limited its successes in attacking Ukranian systems, it has achieved long-term success by embedding itself outside the portion of the memory that is wiped when a router is rebooted. While the FBI and other organizations have taken steps to prevent attacks from occurring as initially configured, the malware still provides access to the hackers for future reprogramming, thus remaining a threat on an unknown number of devices and networks.
Source: Researchers find Russian “VPNfilter” malware was a Swiss Army hacking knife | Ars Technica
