Authored by Arthur Zhang via The Epoch Times,
Cybersecurity researchers have found surveillance backdoors in Chinese carrier routers made by Zbtlink and the same software in a different Zbtlink-made router sold through Amazon.
Ethernet cables are connected to the back of a wireless router. Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty ImagesChinese law requires telecom and internet companies to provide technical assistance to police and state-security agencies.
In an Aug. 27 report, cybersecurity firm VulnCheck said it found two hidden programs in an $88 router bought through Amazon from a U.S. seller. One, which the researchers named Speakingstone, sends information about the router to a remote server and can receive instructions to redirect internet traffic, obtain login credentials, or take control of the device.
The second, named Darklantern, can allow someone on the internet to take control of an affected router without a password, VulnCheck said.
The researchers then found both programs operating on routers already connected to the internet.
The findings expand VulnCheck's Aug. 5 investigation, which involved a different Zbtlink backdoor, named ENDLESSDOORS, found across more than 20 router models sold worldwide.
The newly discovered backdoors are older. VulnCheck found them in router software dating to 2019, y
