A serious security vulnerability affecting a number of Netgear brand routers surfaced Friday, and it reportedly could allow hackers to seize control of your home or office network and potentially intercept your sensitive data. The vulnerability was confirmed by CERT, a federally funded service that coordinates the response to serious software vulnerabilities, reports Ars Technica.
Netgear later confirmed the vulnerability was present in its R8000, R7000, and R6400 routers, but has not yet confirmed whether or not the R7000P, R7500, R7800, R8500, or R9000 models are also affected. According to the CERT report, users of any of the aforementioned routers should be cautious and should probably stop using the devices until a patch has been released.
The vulnerability is particularly insidious because of how simple it is to execute. According to Ars, the only thing you have to do as a user is to click on a malicious link, which can be easily disguised as something innocuous. The link then serves a set of instructions to your router, which will run the commands as a root user, allowing the malicious instructions to subvert your router’s security.
Even if your router’s remote management is disabled, or is otherwise insulated from the internet, the commands will still be run by vulnerable routers, giving malicious third parties access to your local network and all the traffic that passes through it. Ars originally reported a temporary workaround that would protect you from the exploit, and the vulnerability was so severe that the best bet was to just switch it off and keep an eye on the Netgear security advisories for this particular exploit.
Fortunately, Netgear has now responded with a firmware update for the affected routers, either a production update or a beta update. It’s highly recommended that you click on your Netgear router from the list below to download the new firmware:
Netgear recommends in the strongest terms that you update your router. Download and install the beta software now, and then make sure to update to the production firmware when it’s available. Keep an eye on the Security Advisory page for vulnerability 582384 to see if any other Netgear routers are added to the list or if further updates are provided for the known vulnerable devices.
Updated on 12-19-2016 by Mark Coppock: Add download links for production and beta firmware for the affected Netgear routers.
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
I've spent a good amount of time digging into the spec sheet of the new M6 MacBook Pro (14-inch), and for all intents and purposes, this is a classic Apple "chip and connectivity" refresh. It's not a full redesign. The chassis, Liquid Retina XDR panel, speakers, ports, and battery, all of them carry over unchanged.
However, the M6 brings more cores, stronger on-device AI, higher memory bandwidth on the larger configs, and modern wireless. Here’s the practical rundown of what actually improved, and whether those gains are worth your money.