• Tricks. Does your Wifi go slow and fail? So you can fix it
  • Security: How can you protect your mobile from open WIFI networks?

A vulnerability present in WiFi chips, incorporated in devices such as computers, smartphones, tablets, WiFi access points and routers, generates erroneous encryption keys that expose network packets to possible attacks.

Kr00k (CVE-2019-15126), as the vulnerability has been baptized, has put at risk the communications of one billion computers worldwide, as ESET has warned through a statement sent to Europa Press.

The vulnerability causes the network communication of an affected device to be encrypted with an encryption key composed of zeros. In a successful attack, this error allows an adversary to decrypt the network packets sent wirelessly.

The failure affects all devices with Broadcom and Cypress WiFi chips without updating with the corresponding security patches. It is the most common WiFi chips used in users' devices, as they point out from the company. WiFi hotspots and routers are also affected by the vulnerability, which makes even environments with patched user devices also vulnerable.

ESET tested and confirmed that Amazon devices (Echo, Kindle), Apple (iPhone, iPad, MacBook), Google (Pixel phones), Samsung (Galaxy phones), Raspberry (Pi 3) and Xiaomi (Redmi) were among the vulnerable devices ), as well as access points from Asus and Huawei.

"It is necessary to upgrade all devices with WiFi capability, including phones, tablets, laptops, IoT smart devices and WiFi access points and routers, to the latest version of 'firmware' provided by the manufacturer," recommends Josep Albors, responsible of Awareness and Research of ESET Spain.

After making the investigation known, most of the major manufacturers of affected devices have released patches with updates, as the European cybersecurity company has assured.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • Xiaomi
  • iPhone
  • Samsung
  • Huawei
  • Google
  • Asus

The Mobile of Barcelona, ​​in vilo for the coronavirus: more than 6,500 Chinese professionals

SectorThe mobile market in Spain: Samsung and Apple take two out of every three euros

AppleWhy the bad guy will never use an iPhone