MOSCOW, August 7Hacking Wi-Fi will allow hackers to monitor the victim's actions on the Internet, collect personal data, install malware on the router, and attack the user's smart devices, said Jamil Medzhidov, a leading cybersecurity analyst at MTS Web Services.
«After hacking a router, an attacker can monitor the Internet activities of users connected to Wi-Fi, collect personal data that they enter on websites with an unencrypted connection … install malware on the router for further attacks and espionage, and use the device for DDoS attacks. Smart devices can also be reached via a Wi-Fi network,» Medzhidov said. 
< br />He said that there are several reasons to understand that the router has been hacked. The first of them is a slowdown in the Internet. This may indicate that a hacker or neighbors are using the user's Wi-Fi and downloading large amounts of data through it. Another sign that the device has been hacked is the appearance of an unknown device on the network: to check, you need to log into your router and view the list of IP addresses on the network, comparing it with the IP addresses of your own devices.
According to the expert, a hacked router may also be indicated by the appearance of a large amount of advertising in the browser, or the opening of third-party sites when visiting regular ones. For example, instead of a search engine site, a casino site opens.
To protect the network, first of all, you need to change the router administrator credentials — the username and password that are used to access its settings, setting a complex password. Changing the network name of the router will also help protect against hackers: devices often use their own brand in the network name, and hackers can use this information to hack the network.
In addition, the expert recommends using Wi-Fi monitoring tools that will automatically monitor the wireless network. «In addition, it is necessary to constantly monitor router firmware updates. Updates fix known errors and vulnerabilities and increase reliability,» Medzhidov added.