Mangaluru: The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. has advised its broadband users to change the default system password after a section of its broadband system was hit by a malware attack earlier this week.
It is reported that more than 60,000 BSNL broadband modems across Karnataka Telecom Circle have became dysfunctional after a malware attack since Wednesday night.
“The situation has been addressed to a great extent. We are advising customers that they should immediately change their passwords, and they should not be worried about using broadband once they have done that,” BSNL Chairman Anupam Shrivastava said.
Shrivastava said that during the attack, malware was changing the passwords of users (those who were using admin as password) and so the affected modems were unable to login.
This attack occurred earlier this week, he said, adding BSNL call centres were proactively reaching out to users to alert them, and advise them about precautionary measures. He said that the malware has not impacted BSNL’s core network, billing or any other system.
R. Mani, chief general manager, BSNL, Karnataka Telecom Circle, said that modems supplied by three particular vendors have been affected by the malware attack that came through the wide area network.
He said instructions have already been issued to all officials on procedure to rectify and reboot the modems. Some BSNL personnel were visiting homes of subscribers to address the problem, he said.
BSNL broadband subscribers can also reset the modem by following these procedures: open modem page (http://192.168.1.1); enter modem user/password; click on access management tab; click on activate acl radio button; save and reboot the modem.
(Agencies)
