Alert! Is a hacker heading for your router?

Web security monitoring service CERT has warned of increased hack attacks to routers.

The California-based service issued an advisory to highlight the fact that hackers are increasingly targeting specific vulnerabilities in routers that allow them to intercept passwords and credit card details and redirect web traffic to trigger denial of service attacks (DOS).

CERT claims that most security professionals have been fully aware of the problems for few years, but security experts say they are seeing an increase in router related hacking tools emerging on the internet.

But Paul King, security consultant at the world's largest router maker Cisco, said the equipment manufacturers are doing everything they can to secure networks.

"Security is not just buying the right equipment, it still comes down to implementation and policies. We are constantly trying to increase the security of our products to help our customers," he said.

CERT was created in 1988 by the US government to co-ordinate communication among experts during security emergencies and is run by the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.