Security Flaw Found in BT's Home Hub
Written by Anonymous on 1:16 AMA security flaw in BT’s wireless broadband hub has been exposed by a national newspaper after it became the talk of security experts some months back.
As the installer of the Home Hub wireless network, BT is also said to be aware of the vulnerability, which may allow a hacker to steal sensitive data from the host computer.
It is apparently simple to exploit because the password supplied to ‘secure’ the wi-fi system can reportedly be breached after just a few, rather than countless, permutations.
Armed with a free computer program, IT experts showed the Mail on Sunday, which investigated the flaw, how to gain broadband access via the hub in just five minutes.
Once logged on, they said a criminal would be able to plant software to steal passwords and other sensitive data from the computer hosting the Home Hub.
“I am sure there are people driving round the suburbs with laptops trying to do this today,” Lloyd Brough, principal consultant at NCC Group, told the paper.
Paul Vlissidis, the group’s technical director, reportedly added that security experts had been discussing the weakness in the BT system for months.
But responding to the claims, the telecoms giant said it proved only a “theoretical” attack, as the breach wouldn’t allow its author to steal a hub user’s bank account details.
Under fire for not alerting consumers, BT also told the investigators that not a single customer has been affected by the problem, which it believes won’t affect the majority.
Despite the reassurance, BT has issued some new advice to customers about practical ways they can improve the security of their wireless network device .
Late last year, BT disabled the hub’s ‘remote assistance’ feature after security concerns it gave hackers a window to fully control the system, which had 2m users at the time.
From Contractor UK
As the installer of the Home Hub wireless network, BT is also said to be aware of the vulnerability, which may allow a hacker to steal sensitive data from the host computer.
It is apparently simple to exploit because the password supplied to ‘secure’ the wi-fi system can reportedly be breached after just a few, rather than countless, permutations.
Armed with a free computer program, IT experts showed the Mail on Sunday, which investigated the flaw, how to gain broadband access via the hub in just five minutes.
Once logged on, they said a criminal would be able to plant software to steal passwords and other sensitive data from the computer hosting the Home Hub.
“I am sure there are people driving round the suburbs with laptops trying to do this today,” Lloyd Brough, principal consultant at NCC Group, told the paper.
Paul Vlissidis, the group’s technical director, reportedly added that security experts had been discussing the weakness in the BT system for months.
But responding to the claims, the telecoms giant said it proved only a “theoretical” attack, as the breach wouldn’t allow its author to steal a hub user’s bank account details.
Under fire for not alerting consumers, BT also told the investigators that not a single customer has been affected by the problem, which it believes won’t affect the majority.
Despite the reassurance, BT has issued some new advice to customers about practical ways they can improve the security of their wireless network device .
Late last year, BT disabled the hub’s ‘remote assistance’ feature after security concerns it gave hackers a window to fully control the system, which had 2m users at the time.
From Contractor UK
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