Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that the United States has launched a national security investigation into Chinese-made wireless and wired routers.
Officials from the U.S. Department of Commerce and Department of Defense are investigating TP-Link, a Chinese internet router manufacturer. The company’s router products could face a sales ban in the U.S. starting next year, part of a broader effort to address threats to U.S. networks and data from Chinese tech firms.
TP-Link currently dominates 65% of the U.S. home and small business wireless routers market. U.S. investigators have noted that the company’s growing market share coincides with an uptick in China-based hacking activities. TP-Link routers were among the brands Chinese state-sponsored hackers exploited in major cyberattacks, including Bolt, Flax, and Salt Typhoon. Many of these hacking operations targeted critical U.S. infrastructure, telecommunications, and internet companies.
However, there is no evidence directly implicating TP-Link in these attacks. A TP-Link spokesperson stated, “We welcome opportunities to engage with the federal government to demonstrate that our security practices are fully in line with industry security standards and to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to serving American consumers and addressing U.S. national security risks.”
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