Safety of a second hand asus router

[Dfects]

I recently purchased a second hand RT-AC3200 router for a bargain price off ebay (well under half of a new one). After purchasing I instantly started to consider how safe it is running a router when I don't know its history or that of the seller. I've connected it to a raspberry pi that is isolated, flashed the latest merlin and have reinitialised to make sure its all wiped. All seems to be running well. Should that be safe? Not sure if I'm being over paranoid?

 

[CrystalLattice]

I recently purchased a second hand RT-AC3200 router for a bargain price off ebay (well under half of a new one). After purchasing I instantly started to consider how safe it is running a router when I don't know its history or that of the seller. I've connected it to a raspberry pi that is isolated, flashed the latest merlin and have reinitialised to make sure its all wiped. All seems to be running well. Should that be safe? Not sure if I'm being over paranoid?

Safety is measurable using Nessus, or your favorite vulnerability scanner. You will be surprised at thesecurity holes in your installation. Good luck!

 

[Dfects]

Thanks, I'll give that a go

I was more concerned if the router could of been tampered with in some way that an nvram/firmware flash wouldn't remove, although a scan could identify something.

 

[Pierino]

If you have reset it, it is as safe as new.

 

[jerry6]

initialize it , it should be good after that

 

[Dfects]

Sweet thanks will still do a scan to check my config once its up and running.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Remember to reformat the JFFS partition (even though it might appear empty), I'm not sure whether a factory default reset does that or not.

 

[drabisan]

Initialize in Asus firmware will do a good job. I couldn't find any piece not reset by that function.
It's a good idea even if router comes from a "reliable" store. And even that can't entirely calm a paranoid mind like mine...I do regularly look for weird processes on all my boxes, to the best of my knowledge...

 

[CrystalLattice]

If you have reset it, it is as safe as new.

no router is "safe" until you've run nessus, not grc, & closed all the holes! you're just hangin it out in the wind

 

[OzarkEdge]

no router is "safe" until you've run nessus, not grc, & closed all the holes! you're just hangin it out in the wind

Free for 7 days or $2200/year... not a very attractive solution solution for the home user.

OE

 

[CrystalLattice]

Free for 7 days or $2200/year... not a very attractive solution solution for the home user.

OE

what snb has randomly assembled here is the most negative group of people. i get it free, if you don't, then google 'top ten sec.vul.scanrs.' & pick another free one. odds r u cant close all sec. holes!

 

[ColinTaylor]

Free for 7 days or $2200/year... not a very attractive solution solution for the home user.

"Nessus Home" is free and has enough for home users.

 

[OzarkEdge]

"Nessus Home" is free and has enough for home users.

Thanks, I looked their site over and did not find that! I still can't find it without your hint.

OE

 

[ColinTaylor]

Thanks, I looked their site over and did not find that! I still can't find it without your link.

The download for all versions is the same. The only difference is the licence key.

https://www.tenable.com/products/nessus-home

 

[Dfects]

Yep I have the free one installed and have done a few scans of my current rt-ac66u setup via local ips. I should probably start another thread for this, but is there a way to do an external scan with nessus? I've only tried via a VPN so far and the host is never listed when using my wan ip, but it may require an external ip. I might be misunderstanding its intended use, or may actually have to be on a physically external net. I've not had time to properly read up on it so far so if anyone can help with a quick answer that'd be grand

 

[CrystalLattice]

nessus home: https://www.tenable.com/products/nessus-home there r others also that r good. if using openwrt, do regular home router security tips., search special openwrt security tips, run scanner, close holes when possible none of this will help you if hiding from the authorities. the Airport was not on the CIA list.

 

[ColinTaylor]

but is there a way to do an external scan with nessus?

I don't think so. You'd have to scan it from outside your local network somehow, maybe from an installation on a VPS. That's not allowed with the free licence so you'd have to buy one of the other options.

 

[ColinTaylor]

if using openwrt, do reg. home sec., search special sec. tips, run scanner, close holes when poss. none of this will help you if hiding from EU, unkel sm, etc.. but an apple airport mite!

Can you translate that into English please?

 

[SwampKracker]

I don't think so. You'd have to scan it from outside your local network somehow, maybe from an installation on a VPS. That's not allowed with the free licence so you'd have to buy one of the other options.

Don't connect the WAN interface to your ISP device. Manually assign an IP address to the WAN interface of the router. Configure a client to connect directly to the WAN interface as though it is on the internet. Run your scan.