UPDATED Nov. 20, 2019 with the addition of three , perhaps four, more vulnerable D-Link models. This story was originally published Oct. 8, 2019, and updated Oct. 24, 2019 with the addition of six more vulnerable models.
A serious security flaw has been found in four D-Link routers. But if you have one of these models, you'd better just throw it out, because the flaw will never be fixed.
In other words, a hacker halfway across the world could fairly easily hijack your router and then monitor your internet traffic or send you to malicious websites.
Usually, you would install new firmware to repair such router issues. But Fortinet was notified by D-Link that because "these products are at End of Life (EOL) support ... the vendor will not provide fixes for the issue we discovered."
Unfortunately, one of the models, the DIR-866L, was introduced in 2014 and discontinued only in 2018. Another model, the DIR-655, was introduced in 2006, but also discontinued only last year.
However, D-Link is under no obligation to provide support for a device that it no longer makes. The upshot is that before you buy a router, check with the manufacturer to see if it's still supported.
For example, here is an official web page listing D-Link's "legacy products," and a third-party page listing Netgear's discontinued products. (Netgear's own list of legacy routers is way out of date.)
If you'd like your new router to last as long, you might want to check what the manufacturer's policy is for end-of-life support.
On Nov. 19, D-Link updated its own security bulletin to add three, or perhaps four, models to the list.
DHP-1565
DIR-655
DIR-866L
