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Cisco Pushing 'Cloud Connect' Router Firmware, Allows Web History Tracking
Myrv writes "Reports have started popping up that Cisco is pushing out and automatically (without permission) installing their new Cloud Connect firmware on consumer routers. The new firmware removes the user's ability to login and administer the router locally. You now must configure the router using Cisco's Cloud connect service. If that wasn't bad enough, the fine print for this new service allows Cisco to track your complete internet history. Currently, it appears the only way to disable the Cloud Connect service is to unplug your router from the internet."
that's all I can say really. This sounds worse than sony's disabling of features in a firmware update. Only this one you can't just not do. (and deal with the consequences of not being up to date)
But I bet this one gets sufficient backlash to require them to backpedal. Significantly altering the behavior of a purchased product by remote control, without opt-out. Arguably illegal?
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
Although this is pure speculation, but I have reasonable suspicion as a former employee of Cisco, that this really plays well with law enforcement and other three letter government agencies, having the ability to track all Internet activities. That's all I have to offer on this subject. Be careful.
when my linksys dies i won't buy one of your products. i'll probably just buy one of the Apple routers. the cost is about the same as your overpriced crap but they will work better with the icrap i already have at home.
i've tried the cheapo routers and they seem flaky
they would not dare do this to enterprise customers. those guys take privacy a wee bit more seriously than home users do. they also have big lawyers and would not hesitate to sue if some unplanned update was forced on them that changed their whole security architecture.
home users don't have big lawyers and so they are defenseless against big corps.
I just can't see why cisco thought this would be a good idea. its got FAIL written all over it and will go down in history as a 'sony rootkit' type event. just wow...
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"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
So who just plugs in a firewall/router and starts using it out of the box without changing the password and checking over all the settings?
Under the Administration / Management tab, you'll find a radio button clearly marked "Remote Management", and beneath that settings for Remote Upgrade. The day I installed it I discovered remote management was enabled by default, so I immediately set it to disabled. I remember thinking "My god, that's f*ing stupid! Who would ever want to expose router management to the wild side?" Apparently this answers my question.
Anyway, for anyone here who is outraged that their router has been pwnd by Cisco, SHAME ON YOU for not securing your own damn router yourself before hanging it on the intarwebs!
John
I was in the market for a new router, I now know that my next one will either not be another linksys or it will not be running the stock firmware.
Since most of those who ask me for tech advice might not be up for re-flashing their router I will not be recommending linksys.
So now the question is, what to recommend instead?
Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
Just an FYI ... the Cisco Connect Cloud concept allows people to manage and view their home network from anywhere on the internet so long as their router has a connection to the internet.
Well, I for one got a router in the first place partly because I specifically don't want anybody or anything to manage or view my home network from anywhere outside said network.
I've set it up to disable all such silliness, and I want it to stay that way.
This is typical of the short-term thinking that is all too common among corporations today. They're throwing away their credibility with professional users – you know, the ones who buy the expensive Cisco gear that generates most of their profits – so they can grab a few quick bucks by data-mining the consumer market. How many network administrators are going to hear about this and rule out Cisco for future consideration? Keep in mind that the silent and unprompted nature of the update implies that there already was a back door into the routers, even before this recent change. And I don't think that Cisco can cleanly separate its credibility in the home and enterprise markets, even if this is what they're planning to do.
Let me explain about trust...
Help stamp out iliturcy.
its called a test bed, if their scheme is successful, they push it to other devices. 4 years after all products are on the automatic scheme, they charge for upgrade subscriptions.
I'm gonna guess that a router uses less electricity.
Ideally we shouldn't support companies who do this even if their hardware is reflashable.
This is different for two main reasons:
1) Verizon is your ISP. They already see all your internet traffic. That's just the way ISPs work. Cisco did not previously have access to any information about your internet traffic (and, btw, considering their stated goals of their cloud system, there does not seem to be a reason for them to have access to it now).
2) The problem is not automatic updates. It's the dramatic change in your relationship with Cisco and how your router operates that is the problem. Automatic updates, if they were just bug fixes and feature upgrades, sound like a good thing.
A) This only happens automatically if you have the option for automatic firmware updating checked in your router's config. You lose your geek card & status if you left this option on. Not that I'm saying the average home user (who almost certainly wouldn't know how/why to change this option) deserves to have his/her data snooped, but as a techie, you should know better.
As a techie, I don't have my router using automatic updates (actually, I'm fairly sure my router doesn't have an automatic updates setting, but all the same).
But as the "techie friend/relative", I always tell my friends and family to keep automatic updates turned on. They certainly wouldn't update these things themselves (mostly they barely know how to access their router's admin page), and I'm not going to be doing it for every single one of them. And an un-updated router is an insecure router.
And they don't deserve to be spied on and have their privacy invaded just because they're not very good at network management.