NSA Warning—Reboot Your Internet Router Now

https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2026/04/09/nsa-warning-reboot-your-internet-router-now/

42 Comments

  1. Translated: NSA just dropped a new global spyware update and needs us all to reboot for the install to finalize

  2. bleh, the advice in the article is actually to reboot your router every week. That sounds like a whole burden.

  3. Since when has the NSA had my best interests at heart?? They violate our rights unchecked. They are the enemy of the people.

  4. This is common sense, not a plot or a conspiracy by Big Reboot. If your router has malware installed on it, and it’s not persistent, the reboot gets rid of it. If the malware is persistent, you’re hosed, and this won’t impact you either way.

  5. UnratedRamblings on

    Why is the only article about this by Forbes? Can’t find another news source as yet stating to do this.

  6. BonerDeploymentDude on

    Citizens are warned that APT28 (aka Fancy Bear) hackers working for Russia’s military “have been collecting credentials and exploiting vulnerable routers worldwide, including compromising TP-Link routers using [CVE-2023-50224](https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/cve-2023-50224).”

    The TL;DR on this warning is to stop using end-of-life internet routers and to ensure that ones still under support are updated regularly.

  7. I have my router and mesh devices on a daily scheduled reboot as a best practice.

  8. Obstinatemelon on

    Wait, my Spectrum internet was going off and on all day yesterday. And for the first time in decades of having this service, I got an email last night saying they’d send a technician for free to either check/upgrade my connection. What the heck, lol.

  9. Plot twist, nsa released their own spyware update and need routers to reboot for it to apply but they can’t reboot it themselves remotely.

  10. CaptainCorranHorn on

    Man, if only the NSA hadn’t blown their credibility with the public by illegally spying on us

  11. Single-Use-Again on

    If your router is blasting as part of a botnet your ISP will let you know. Reboot if you want, but don’t trust the NSA for fuck sake.

  12. The NSA wants to keep you from using that old router since all the new ones will have required back doors.

  13. GroundbreakingEar667 on

    The NSA has infected home routers and needs you reboot for the firmware to install

  14. Plastic_Willow734 on

    Oh sweet, they must’ve figured out how to spin everyone’s router to be a node for flock cameras or Palantir or some shit.

    Guess the ban on non-US made consumer routers was for nothing!

  15. GMGarry_Chess on

    the agency that spies on all of our internet traffic is warning us about people spying on our internet traffic

  16. this is probably a scam first they ban all routers made outside the us this is not about security for us its probably them installing a spyware network who trusts the nsa after Snowden leaks

  17. JadeddMillennial on

    The firmware they installed needs to be rebooted to complete installation.

  18. monkeypincher on

    Russian military hackers and the NSA both care an equal amount about the well-being of US citizens.

  19. SomeCountryFriedBS on

    If I have to wage my own cyber defense against the Rooskies, then maybe high speed internet should be a utility.

  20. Heres the thing I just don’t fucking care anymore. 50,000 passwords to remember with all the characters that I need to change every 30 days only for them to show up when my ISP or phone company gets hacked along with my social and every other fucking thing.

  21. wsxdfcvgbnjmlkjafals on

    Without reading shit yet, it’s good to reboot your devices somewhat regularly anyways. Phone, computer, router…

  22. I didnt read. Is this to install NSA spyware or China spyware or israel spyware? I like to know who is viewing my nudes

  23. Balzmcgurkin on

    So they are telling everyone to stop using end of life routers right after they announced a ban on all routers made not exclusively in the US? Can someone explain how this is not an attempt to force people onto US routers that likely have NSA and CIA backdoors installed?

  24. turribleDeal on

    We need tech literacy as a HS course or something. Plus there should be pressure on manufacturers to prolong the life cycle of their routers so massive swaths of people are not vulnerable to this type of stuff every time they decide they wanna see some more profits on a new line of routers that will make the previous ones obsolete. I get it that tech moves fast and it’s up to the consumer to keep up, to an extent. But there are definitely predatory practices to keep you buying the latest and greatest hardware / software. Looking at you Windows!

  25. Subtle_Shiver on

    Reboot all your devices regularly, especially your phone. This warning to reboot routers likely indicates a botnet attack underway or imminent

    Iran has a history with cyber warfare, the stuxnet virus was used almost twenty years ago to attack Iranian nuclear enrichment activities.

  26. I reboot my (UniFi UDM) router when it updates and occasionally to cycle something, but the ONT at the edge? I have to open a few basement cabinets to even remember which one it’s in.

    Kind of interesting that “router” is both a specific device and a generic “home wifi thingy” in these contexts.

  27. Possibly_a_Firetruck on

    > NSA reminds citizens that its “best practices for securing your home network” means “changing default usernames and passwords, disabling remote management interfaces from the Internet, updating to latest firmware versions, and upgrading end-of-support devices.”

    It’s baffling that the technology sub is opposing this because of who it’s coming from. If you intentionally don’t take these basic precautions because of the NSA and Trump, you’re just being dumb.

  28. NSA “warning” lol – or this is their clever way to make everyone quickly reboot so their own spyware update push gets loaded. 😂