Resetting Your Modem

Your Internet Modem

The FBI recently shut down part of a Russian security breach that affected over a half of a million US internet modems.  The short of it is that it compromises your online security and there is a quick fix to make sure you are safe going forward.  If you power off/on your internet modem it will restart and update with the latest software to keep the Russian hackers from accessing your modem.  It is not a bad idea to do this every so often to keep it up to date.

I included a picture of common modem plugs (see photo).  You can power off/on your modem a few different ways.  You will know it has powered off when all of the lights on the front of the unit go out:

  • Remove the power cable (see photo below), wait about 10 seconds, and then plug it back in
  • If it is hard to physically get to you can also turn off/on the surge protector it is plugged into
  • If it is inaccessible you can flip the circuit breaker for the outlet that the modem is plugged into