Vigilante botnet highlights woeful state of embedded device security

The article discusses Wifatch, a Perl-written malware infecting tens of thousands of Linux-based home routers worldwide; although it behaves like vigilante software—removing other malware, disabling Telnet, and prompting administrators to change credentials and update firmware—it spreads without consent (likely via Telnet brute-force) and uses Pastebin-based command-and-control, underscoring the broader security risks of unmanaged embedded devices and SOHO routers.