Hackers exploited a security flaw in Asus routers, which was reported 8 months ago, and managed to gain access to disk drives connected via USB to the vulnerable routers.
Several of the affected users found text files on their connected hard drives, warning them about the vulnerability and providing instructions on how to protect themselves.
"This is an automated message that has been sent to all those affected. Your Asus router and documents can be accessed by anyone in the world with internet access," the message sent by the hackers said.
This fact seems to have caused particular concern among users, who believed that the drive was only accessible through their local network.
The router vulnerability was first discovered by researcher Kyle Lovett in June 2013, but Asus insisted it was “not a real problem.” A month later, Lovett published technical details about how to exploit the vulnerability, information that was apparently used by hackers to gain access to connected devices.
Additionally, in early February, anonymous hackers managed to publish approximately 13,000 IP addresses corresponding to users with vulnerable Asus routers, along with a torrent link containing more than 10,000 lists of files intercepted from the vulnerable devices.
According to Lovett, the affected Asus router models are the RRT-AC66R, RT-AC66U, RT-N66R, RT-N66U, RT-AC56U, RT-N56R, RT-N56U, RT-N14U, RT-N16, and RT-N16R.
The good news is that ASUS released a firmware update last week, patching the vulnerability, however many users may still be vulnerable as they have not updated their routers.
