Popular internet equipment used by Lithuanians may be used to spy and collect data about them, Lithuania's vice minister of defence says.
Lithuania's National Cyber Security Centre examined one of the most popular wireless routers in the country and found that it sent data to servers in Russia.
Read more: Fake news target Lithuania's statehood, portray as hostile state – report
“[The routers] are still widely used since they are budget-class and fairly efficient,” said Vice Defence Minister Edvinas Kerza, adding that some internet service providers used to include them into their packages.
Since then, businesses and distributors “responsibly” removed the products from the market, but some people still use them.
Rytis Rainys, the director of the cybersecurity centre, said the D-Link routers had pre-installed DNS settings and directed the service to Russia-based servers. EU institutions also got interested in the investigation which lasted several months, he said.
Read more: Cyber attack threatened water supply in Lithuania's Kaunas – report
According to Kerza, about 90 percent of wireless routers used in Lithuania are produced in China or Taiwan.
“And we found that even though they were supposed to be produced in Taiwan, they were in fact produced in Russia,” the vice minister said.
The Lithuanian Defence Ministry published the annual 2019 National Cyber Security Status Report on Thursday.
LRT English
Newsletter
Every Friday morning.
