High landline bill after software attack on router: Saxony Consumer Center advises software updates
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The L. family from Crimmitschau in West Saxony was supposed to pay 468 euros for using their landline connection in November 2014, while the bill otherwise only amounted to 40 - 50 euros per month. The individual connection records show a good 14 hours of international calls for 410 euros, which the family never made.
“It is most likely a hacker attack on the router,” suspects Katja Henschler from the Saxony Consumer Center.
Security gaps in the devices provide a gateway through which hackers from the Internet can penetrate the router's software and control it remotely, so to speak. For example, they can trigger costly long-distance calls lasting hours or repeatedly. Antivirus protection on the PC cannot prevent such attacks on the router.
Because the conversations were demonstrably initiated by the family's connection, the provider insists on payment. The L. family, on the other hand, does not feel obliged to pay for the conversations that they did not initiate. “Rightly so,” says Henschler and explains: “According to the regulations of the Telecommunications Act, a provider has no claim to remuneration from the user if the use cannot be attributed to the user and he can prove this.
“As the Federal Court of Justice decided in 2010 (judgment of May 12, 2010, Ref. I ZR 121/08), a private connection owner must take all technical measures that can be expected of an average user. However, users cannot be expected to continually adapt network security to the latest state of the art (BGH judgment of July 19, 2012, Ref. III ZR 71/12). “A user’s obligation to regularly inquire about available software updates is therefore extremely doubtful,” Henschler concludes from this case law.
Independent control of router security
It is definitely advisable for consumers with their own routers to independently check router security.
In some cases, service providers update routers remotely. In many cases, however, they only make new update software available on their homepage for users to download independently.
It is therefore strongly recommended to regularly inquire about possible updates directly from the provider and to find out about any reports about current security gaps on the Internet.
If you avoid security gaps in your router, you will avoid the often nerve-wracking arguments with the provider about high or unclear invoice items.
Press information from the Saxony Consumer Center
Notes:
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