Federal Agencies Urge Americans to Secure Home Routers Following Russian Hacking Disruption
Federal intelligence agencies, including the FBI and the National Security Agency, have issued an urgent warning for Americans to secure their home internet routers. This follows the disruption of a significant Russian military hacking campaign that compromised thousands of devices. The operation, led by the FBI's Boston office under the name Operation Masquerade, targeted a network of small-office and home-office routers used for malicious hijacking operations. The Russian GRU's 85th Main Special Service Center, known as APT28 or Fancy Bear, exploited vulnerable routers globally since at least 2024. The FBI's intervention severed Russian access to these devices, but officials stress that the fix is not permanent unless users update their hardware. The compromised routers were used to alter domain name system settings, allowing hackers to route user traffic through actor-controlled infrastructure, enabling the Russian government to harvest sensitive data. 
