US eyes ban on TP-Link routers amid cybersecurity concerns

Again on August 13, John Moolenaar, Chair of the US House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, and Raja Krishnamoorthi, the committee’s Ranking Member, addressed a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo urging an investigation into TP-Link. The lawmakers claimed that “open-source information” suggests TP-Link’s products may pose a security risk.

“TP-Link’s unusual degree of vulnerabilities and required compliance with PRC law are in and of themselves disconcerting. When combined with the PRC government’s common use of SOHO routers like TP-Link to perpetrate extensive cyberattacks in the US, it becomes significantly alarming,” the letter read.

In October, Microsoft published an analysis that highlighted that compromised TP-Link devices were integral to the activities of “CovertNetwork-1658,” a China-linked hacking operation. These routers reportedly provided a network of egress IPs that masked subsequent attacks on American critical infrastructure, part of a broader campaign dubbed Volt Typhoon.

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