Home Routers Being Targeted in DNS Hijacking Attack, Trend Micro Says

Attackers attempting to steal sensitive data by diverting home router traffic to malicious domains, security firm says.

Researchers at Trend Micro have discovered a malicious browser script being used to change DNS settings on home routers in some parts of the world in a bid to steal login credentials and other sensitive data from users of the devices.
The campaign is another sign that DNS hijacking is becoming an increasingly popular attack method for criminal hackers.
Earlier this week, security researchers at ESET reported a new malware threat dubbed Linux/Moose targeted at Linux routers that they said could be used for DNS hijacking purposes. In April, attackers hijacked domain name servers at the St. Louis Federal Reserve and redirected traffic meant for its domain to a malicious web page set up the attackers.
In the latest instance, discovered by Trend Micro, nearly 88 percent of the victims of the latest campaign are based in Brazil, but infections have also been observed in the U.S. and Japan, according to Trend Micro.
To compromise routers the threat actors behind the campaign first lure victims to websites containing the malicious script. When someone lands on such sites, the browser script performs a brute-force attack on the underlying home router to try and gain access to its administrative interface.
If it gains access, the script sends a single HTTP request to the router with a malicious DNS server IP address, Trend Micro senior threat researcher Fernando Merces said in a blog post Thursday. “Once the malicious version replaces the current IP address, the infection is done,” he wrote.