WEBVTT - FBI Says Reboot Your Router

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<v Speaker 1>The FBI says, reboot your router. I'm Rich dmiro. This

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<v Speaker 1>is rich on Tech Daily. Well, this is an odd headline.

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<v Speaker 1>The FBI is urging folks to reboot their Wi Fi

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<v Speaker 1>routers to avoid running some malware that can steal your

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<v Speaker 1>website user names and passwords. This one's kind of a

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<v Speaker 1>head scratcher, but I put it under the file of

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<v Speaker 1>you might as well do it. And it's a good

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<v Speaker 1>time to kind of check up on your router in general,

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<v Speaker 1>because lots of us buy these things and then we

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<v Speaker 1>never think about them again, and really we are avoiding

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<v Speaker 1>all of the firmware updates that probably need to be

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<v Speaker 1>done on these things every once in a while. But

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<v Speaker 1>before we get to that, let's go to the beginning.

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<v Speaker 1>What is your router? Well, your router is that device

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<v Speaker 1>that sits near your computer or TV and it has

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<v Speaker 1>the connection from the cable company or your phone company

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<v Speaker 1>into it, and then it serves up your Internet to

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<v Speaker 1>the rest of your house. The FBI says that this

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<v Speaker 1>VPN filter pro can steal your login information and send

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<v Speaker 1>it to the bad guys, or worse, completely disable your router,

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<v Speaker 1>which means you'd have no more Internet signal. In your

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<v Speaker 1>home until you get a replacement device. Normally I would

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<v Speaker 1>not be as concerned about something like this, but this

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<v Speaker 1>malware really affects some big name brands of routers, Lots

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<v Speaker 1>of routers that people have, including Linxis, neck Gear, and

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<v Speaker 1>also tp link. Those are among some of those popular brands.

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<v Speaker 1>There are some other brands affected as well, including microtich

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<v Speaker 1>and q NAP, which are network attached storage devices. But

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<v Speaker 1>if you have one of those, you probably know what

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<v Speaker 1>you're doing when it comes to the tech department. Just

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<v Speaker 1>looking at some of the pictures of these routers, you

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<v Speaker 1>will recognize them. They are some of the most popular

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<v Speaker 1>routers out there. Some of them are pretty inexpensive, which

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<v Speaker 1>means a lot of people purchase them. I've personally owned

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<v Speaker 1>several of these routers over the years. They go from

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<v Speaker 1>the low end to the high end. Now, if you

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<v Speaker 1>want the full list of affected model numbers, you can

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<v Speaker 1>find that on my website rich on tech dot tv.

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<v Speaker 1>But they have model names like Lynxis E twelve hundred,

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<v Speaker 1>Netgear R six four hundred, Neckgear WNR one thousand. Again,

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<v Speaker 1>these are all pretty popular routers, tp Link R six

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<v Speaker 1>hundred VPN. So what do you do. If you have

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<v Speaker 1>one of these routers, well, the first thing you want

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<v Speaker 1>to do is follow the cord from the back of

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<v Speaker 1>the device all the way to the power outlet and

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<v Speaker 1>unplug it. Then wait about thirty seconds for it to

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<v Speaker 1>fully power down. Then you can plug it back in.

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<v Speaker 1>The Justice Department says this simple step can help you

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<v Speaker 1>avoid a portion of the threat, and I'd recommend doing

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<v Speaker 1>this no matter which router you have, even if it's

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<v Speaker 1>not specifically listed above. This is a pretty easy thing

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<v Speaker 1>to do and will only interrupt your Wi Fi connection

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<v Speaker 1>at home for about five to ten minutes while everything

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<v Speaker 1>boots up again. Now, after this, there are two more,

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<v Speaker 1>much more involved steps to take if your router model

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<v Speaker 1>is specifically mentioned on the list. This includes a factory reset,

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<v Speaker 1>a firmware update, and also changing the default password on

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<v Speaker 1>the device. Now, the factory reset is probably the minimum

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<v Speaker 1>thing you want to do if you suspect that your

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<v Speaker 1>router is a part of this problem. This involves basically

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<v Speaker 1>bringing the router back to the way it was from

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<v Speaker 1>the factory. And this involves a little tiny reset hole

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<v Speaker 1>or button you'd probably never noticed on the back of

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<v Speaker 1>the router until now. You basically put a paper clip

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<v Speaker 1>in there and push down the button for several seconds

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<v Speaker 1>until the router starts to blink a bunch, and that

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<v Speaker 1>will signal that you have successfully factory reset it, and

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<v Speaker 1>then it will take a while to boot back up. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>if you do this, keep in mind this literally puts

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<v Speaker 1>your router back to new So imagine taking it out

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<v Speaker 1>of the box. You will have to set up your

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<v Speaker 1>entire router again from scratch. You're gonna have to create

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<v Speaker 1>a new Wi Fi network and password, and then of

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<v Speaker 1>course reconnect all your devices. Now you can use the

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<v Speaker 1>same network name and password that you had previously set up,

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<v Speaker 1>and then your devices will find the new router all

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<v Speaker 1>by themselves. But this is a less secure option, so

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<v Speaker 1>proceed at your own risk with that one. Now, after

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<v Speaker 1>you do the factory reset, this is the most important thing.

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<v Speaker 1>You want to set a new login password for your router.

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<v Speaker 1>A lot of time these routers have the same exact

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<v Speaker 1>login and password. It's usually admin and password. That is

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<v Speaker 1>not secure because if you're a hacker, you can literally

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<v Speaker 1>get into all these people's devices across the nation just

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<v Speaker 1>by using the default username and password. Not smart. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>some of the newer routers have more unique passwords that

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<v Speaker 1>are set from the factory, and those are printed on

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<v Speaker 1>the bottom of them, but still it's not as good

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<v Speaker 1>as something that you set on the device yourself. The

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<v Speaker 1>other thing you should do, and you should probably do

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<v Speaker 1>this once in a while anyway, is make sure the

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<v Speaker 1>firmware on your router is up to date. This is

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<v Speaker 1>really kind of the operating system on the router. Think

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<v Speaker 1>of this as updating the software on your iPhone or

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<v Speaker 1>your Android device. This is kind of involved because you

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<v Speaker 1>have to log into your router from your computer using

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<v Speaker 1>a special web address, which is usually something like one

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<v Speaker 1>nine to two dot one six ' one dot one

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<v Speaker 1>dot one or my router admin dot net or something

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<v Speaker 1>weird like that, which most people just don't bother with.

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<v Speaker 1>But the good news is most of the newer routers

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<v Speaker 1>have a button once you you get to that web

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<v Speaker 1>in or face where you can just say check for

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<v Speaker 1>new firmware and then you can install it. So that's

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<v Speaker 1>the good news here, But that is a little more complicated.

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<v Speaker 1>You probably want to enlist the help of someone that

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<v Speaker 1>knows what they're doing. Keep in mind if you have

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<v Speaker 1>one of these newer mess style router systems like those

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<v Speaker 1>from euro Google Wi Fi or Neckgear orby This is

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<v Speaker 1>why I love these things. These things are so easy

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<v Speaker 1>to update. You can update the firmware right from your

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<v Speaker 1>phone's app, and it's much easier than going in and

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<v Speaker 1>having to do any of this stuff from some sort

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<v Speaker 1>of control panel using your web browser. And if you

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<v Speaker 1>get one of these newer mess style router systems, you're

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<v Speaker 1>gonna get way better Wi Fi coverage throughout your house

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<v Speaker 1>and much better security overall. Hopefully this helped out when

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<v Speaker 1>it comes to the FBI telling you to reboot your router.

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<v Speaker 1>You can find my full write up on the website.

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<v Speaker 1>Just go to richon tech dot tv if you want

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<v Speaker 1>to see a list of all the routers that are

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<v Speaker 1>affected and the step by step instructions on how to

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<v Speaker 1>fix things. Thanks so much for listening. If you could,

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<v Speaker 1>if you like what I'm doing here, leave a review

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<v Speaker 1>on Apple podcasts that would be the best. I'm Rich Tomiro.

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<v Speaker 1>I will talk to you real soon. M