Linksys routers and firewall

[MRBRENT]

I have been told that the basic $120 routers with built in firewalls are easy to hack through. Is this someone blowing smoke and wanting to sell me something or is this true? Any feedback would be great.

 

[wbg34]

MRBRENT,
Yes lynksys routers can be hacked relatively easy. Here is a description of one of the problems.

http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/6201/exploit/

(Note: you can buy this router for less than $100)

On the other hand the Cisco Pix 520 which costs $10,000 also has Vulnerabilities

http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/6904/discussion/

The fact of the matter is that if you are the target of a determined hacker there is not much that you can do. But, you need to do something to protect your network. Buy the best firewall / router that you can afford and keep it's firmware current. That will help protect you from casual hackers and script kiddies, but religous hackers almost always find a way.

 

[Grenage]

But you simply disable Remote Management on them, thats standard practice right ?

 

[smah]

Correct, remote administration is disabled by default. Although still not truly secure, recent linksys firmare allows you to change the remote administration listening port - so if you have to have it, you could change the listening port to at least make it more challenging.

 

[Grenage]

I see, thanks for the info