Read full version
Mykola Khizhnyak
ASUS router owners have recently encountered unexpected network connectivity issues. For the first time, this was reported by the Bleeping Computer portal, which wrote that on May 16, many ASUS routers around the world unexpectedly disconnected from the Network. The manufacturer himself did not give any comments on this matter for several days. Today ASUS acknowledged the problem, noting that it arose due to an error found in the network settings configuration file of the new firmware.
Image Source: ASUS
The company on its website in the section with recommendations for ensuring a secure network connection when using its routers informedthat a group of its technical experts “during a routine security check, she discovered an error in the configuration of her server’s settings file, which could potentially cause an interruption of the network connection by routers”.
ASUS apologized for the inconvenience and added that the team “immediately fixed the problem with the server” and now routers that previously encountered network problems should work as normal. What exactly was the error, the company did not specify. However, one of the users of the Reddit forum suggested that it was not related to the router firmware itself, but to the AiProtection security utility built into the routers, which contained a damaged threat definition file that got in with the update. This component is updated much more often than the firmware of ASUS routers itself.
“Routers automatically download and update this definition file. If there is an error in the file, the download and installation process is repeated again. Apparently, the routers began to run out of free space in the file system and memory, which caused a global crash.wrote a Reddit forum user.
AiProtection utility is an important network security component of ASUS routers. It can automatically block access to known malicious websites that can spread malware, spam, and adware. It also contains an intrusion prevention (IPS) scanner. The utility can block access for local network devices that may be infected by some botnets. In addition, AiProtection can send push notifications to the owner’s smartphone if the device is infected.
ASUS itself does not confirm that the problem with the network connection of its routers was a damaged definition file, noting only that the router can be fully restored after a manual reboot. If a manual reboot does not help, then the company recommends resetting the router to factory settings, and then re-downloading and installing the configuration file.
