Virgin Media has told 800,000 customers to change their router passwords to protect against being hacked.

This only applies to Virgin media customers with the Super 2 router. The router is box that provides your Internet connection and WI-FI.

Which consumer magazine has been investigating Wi-Fi in the home and discovered this problem.

Virgin Media said the risk was small but advised customers using default network and router passwords to update them immediately. This means that if your router has never had its password changed, then you should consider changing it.  To do this you need to use your browser and connect to the http address for the router.

A spokesman said: “The security of our network and of our customers is of paramount importance to us. We continually upgrade our systems and equipment to ensure that we meet all current industry standards. We regularly support our customers through advice and updates and offer them the chance to upgrade to a Hub 3.0 which contains additional security provisions.”

Supposedly, the issue exists with other routers of the same age and is not exclusive to the Virgin Media model.

Which carried out the study in conjunction with ethical security researchers SureCloud and they tested 15 devices -of which eight had security flaws.

In one case a home CCTV system was hacked using an administrator account that was not password protected. Hackers were able to watch live pictures and in some cases were able to move cameras inside the house.

Which? called for the industry to improve basic security provisions, including requiring customers to create a unique password before use, two-factor authentication, and issuing regular software security updates.

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