Chuck Norris Attacks Linux-Based Routers, Modems

Posted by timothy on Monday February 22, 2010 @01:11AM from the witnesses-awarded-him-both-ears-and-the-tail dept.

angry tapir writes "Discovered by Czech researchers, the Chuck Norris botnet has been spreading by taking advantage of poorly configured routers and DSL modems. The malware got the Chuck Norris moniker from a programmer's Italian comment in its source code: 'in nome di Chuck Norris,' which means 'in the name of Chuck Norris.' Chuck Norris is unusual in that it infects DSL modems and routers rather than PCs. It installs itself on routers and modems by guessing default administrative passwords and taking advantage of the fact that many devices are configured to allow remote access."

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Re:As far as misleading headlines go by suso · 2010-02-22 01:36 · Score: 5, Insightful

Yes, this is very misleading. I thought that maybe the Linux network stack was suddenly vulnerable or something, but you're just talking about it taking advantage of default passwords, which is pretty old if you ask me.
This doesn't necessarily mean that say a Linux router that was installed on PC class hardware and has been kept up to date and properly secured is vulnerable to this botnet.