Backdoored firmware lets China state hackers control routers with “magic packets”

Maybe we could have a comprehensive tariff on goods that floats with the number of state-sponsored cyber crimes, human rights violations, etc. Hack our routers? The rate just went up 5%.

"Cisco said the threat actors are compromising the devices after acquiring administrative credentials and that there’s no indication they are exploiting vulnerabilities. Cisco also said that the hacker’s ability to install malicious firmware exists only for older company products. Newer ones are equipped with secure boot capabilities that prevent them from running unauthorized firmware."

This is the best summary I could come up with:

The threat actor is somehow gaining administrator credentials to network devices used by subsidiaries and using that control to install malicious firmware that can be triggered with “magic packets” to perform specific tasks.

In an advisory of its own, Cisco said the threat actors are compromising the devices after acquiring administrative credentials and that there’s no indication they are exploiting vulnerabilities.

Cisco also said that the hacker’s ability to install malicious firmware exists only for older company products.

Newer ones are equipped with secure boot capabilities that prevent them from running unauthorized firmware, the company said.

BlackTech members use the modified firmware to override code in the legitimate firmware to add the SSH backdoor, bypass logging, and monitor incoming traffic for “magic packets.” The term refers to small chunks of data the attackers send to the infected routers.

While they appear random and innocuous in system logs, these packets allow the attackers to surreptitiously enable or disable the backdoor functionality.

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