The security company said this was the first time it had seen such an attack "in the wild," although the concept had been discussed a year ago by Symantec researchers, according to a Symantec blog post.
In the attack, which targeted users of an undisclosed Mexican bank, the intended victims received a spam e-mail claiming they had received an e-card, directing them to gusanto.com, a Spanish-language e-card site. However, the e-mail also had embedded HTML image tags that contained an HTTP get-request to the router to change its Domain Name System settings, according to Symantec's U.K. manager of quality assurance, Thomas Parsons.
The HTTP get-request redirects traffic flowing over the router to a specific IP address when the user attempts to access six domain names that are banking-related. Symantec requested that ZDNet UK not publish the IP address.
The attack is made possible by a cross-site scripting vulnerability in routers made by broadband-equipment company 2Wire that was reported in August last year, according to Symantec. Parsons said this was "a simple hack" and advised small to medium-size businesses to change default security settings on routers and educate users about clicking on suspicious links.
Tom Espiner of ZDNet UK reported from London.
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