The FBI has intervened to disrupt a Russian hacking operation that compromised thousands of small office/home office routers across the United States. This action was necessary after it was discovered that these routers were manipulated to facilitate cyber espionage against various global targets, including military and government personnel.
Brett Leatherman, assistant director of the FBI's Cyber Division, indicated that unsuspecting users in at least 23 states had routers exploited by Russian military intelligence. The agency executed a court-authorized operation aimed at neutralizing a segment of the compromised network controlled by Russia's Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU).
The operation involved resetting the DNS settings of affected TP-Link routers to block GRU-controlled servers. The FBI ensured that the normal functionality of the routers remained intact and did not collect any personal information from users. This proactive measure aims to strengthen security and protect American internet users from further exploitation by foreign hackers.