Six million Sky routers or 'hubs' had a serious software bug that allowed hackers to control people's home networks and "take over someone's online life", revealed a security company.
Six Sky router models were vulnerable to the security bug.
The major issue took Sky 18 months to fix, said Pen Test Partners who discovered the flaw in May 2020.
In response to the issue, Sky reiterated its stance on security and confirmed the issue had been fixed through an automatic update.
The full list of affected Sky routers is below. Customers who were put at risk can get a free replacement router.
Pen Test Partners said in an online report that the issue was not fixed until late October this year - over 17 months later.
Sky said: "We take the safety and security of our customers very seriously."
"After being alerted to the risk, we began work on finding a remedy for the problem and we can confirm that a fix has been delivered to all Sky-manufactured products."
The security company wrote that Sky customers would have been vulnerable to hackers who could have accessed their routers through phishing emails.
Security attacks occurred when an unsuspecting person clicked on a malicious link or visited a fraud website which allowed hackers to gain control of the router.
Hackers could then manage the router remotely and modify any settings.
Ken Munro of Pen Test Partners told the BBC that attackers could then "take over someone's online life" and stolen passwords, including banking log-in details.
Pen Test Partners says Sky emailed them on October 22 to confirm the bug had been fixed in 99 percent of the affected routers.
Sky router models affected by the security issue
- Sky Hub 3 (ER110)
- Sky Hub 3.5 (ER115)
- Booster 3 (EE120)
- Sky Hub (SR101)
- Sky Hub 4 (SR203)
- Booster 4 (SE210)
The Sky Hub 4 and Booster 4 routers come with a random administrator password that would have made it more difficult to hackers to access these devices.
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