Serious question, my neighbor asked me to check his router password

He said he'd been using the default one on the sticker for five years because it was 'too hard to remember a new one'. That hit different coming from a guy who changes his car's oil every 3,000 miles without fail. How do you explain the risk of a weak password to someone who just doesn't get tech?

3 comments

Log in to join the discussion

Log In

3 Comments

gray6446mo ago

I read about a botnet that used default router passwords to spread.

7

hannah_davis7mo ago

Man, that's wild. It's like locking your front door but leaving the key under the mat. Someone could just walk in and mess with his lights, his thermostat, or even see everything he does online. They could also use his internet for illegal stuff, and it would look like it came from his house. All that careful car maintenance, but his digital house is wide open.

6

val_kim7mo ago

Ugh, that's so true. I had a roommate who never changed the default password on our router, and we got hit with so much weird traffic. Honestly, just changing that one thing is a huge step up from leaving it open.

8