What is a router?

Although techno-snobs may flinch at the thought that there are still people on the planet who don't know what a router is, I will still provide a brief description. I know many bright and educated people who use the Internet at home or small businesses via a router for many years without ever needing to know what it is or how it works. Some of these people are now shocked to learn that not only is their router a computer, but it is a computer that criminals can try to exploit in many ways.

The term router derives from the fact that these devices direct traffic between networks: they literally direct data from one digital device to another. For example, when you use your laptop at home to read your emails, messages usually arrive at your laptop through the equipment that came with your Internet service or that you purchased when you configured the Internet service.

Although there are many possible equipment configurations, most include the following functions: modem, router, Wi-Fi (wireless) access point. As this diagram shows, these functions can be performed from separate devices or can be combined in a single box:

The modem takes the signal from your ISP (Internet Service Provider) and converts it into standard network traffic (Ethernet). When the incoming email reaches the router, it decides where to send it. In the past, before Wi-Fi, there was an Ethernet cable that ran from your router (or modem/router) to your laptop. Today many homes and small offices use wireless connections. In this case, traffic, like this email that arrives on your laptop, tablet or smartphone, is routed through the wireless access point.

(Most small home and office Internet connection equipment now support wireless and wired connections, so there may be a wire between the router and printer or network storage (NAS).); many smart TVs use a wired connection to route video from the Internet.)

Of course, your Router Management is doing a lot of work - managing traffic from email to web browsing, printing, streaming of music and videos and enabling online games. A router is also the way most Internet of Things (IoT) devices connect to the Internet, such as smart thermostats, alarm systems, and security cameras.

To do all this work, computing power is needed. This is the reason why routers have evolved into fully-fledged specialized IT systems; Which brings us to the FBI's advice to restart the routers.