Asus Router Security
After the setup of our internet routers we often do not think about how secure they are. Some of us may be guilty of rushing the setup process and missing some very important and costly steps. The router produced and sold by ASUSTek is one that I would definitely be aware of. Asus themselves has acknowledged that there are difficulties that may arise if your router is not setup correctly. I am going to give you a few of the many reasons to take your time and set up your Asus router properly.
Some of their routers come with features called AiCloud and AiDisk, that allow users to attach a hard drive to their routers to enable them to create their own cloud storage. Since the release of these routers a complaint from the FTC has surfaced. The complaint states that Asus routers had/have major security issues that allow hackers to affect consumers negatively by obtaining access to confidential information, for example tax documents that people have stored on these cloud services.
If you use an Asus router in your home please consider applying the following recommendations as soon as possible. First off be sure to download the latest security updates for your router. The FTC has noticed that the Asus router update tool kit will show that your router is currently up to date when often times it really is not. This is one of the main factors that is putting people’s personal information at risk.
Moving forward, Asus is being required to fix this problem and provide accurate update information on software updates. That being said I recommend that this has taken place with your router. Check your Asus router software update tool and visit the Asus support site for the latest security updates. Check and be sure that your network storage is set to limited. Be sure that your that access to your AiCloud and AiDisk is limited to what your preference is. The FTC also discovered an issue with one of the default settings within the AiDisk’s setup, which gives anyone on the internet access to your personal storage. For maximum privacy chose the option of “limited” or “admin rights” access, instead of the default option “limitless”. Make sure that you change the given preset passwords for the router. The FTC discovered that the given preset passwords were considered “weak”. Overall be careful of what you are doing on the internet as there will always be a risk of hackers.