If you want to buy a TP-Link router, or you own one, you might want to pay attention to the fact that three US Government agencies are investigating TP-Link at the moment:
U.S. authorities are considering a ban on China’s TP-Link Technology Co over potential national security concerns after its home internet routers were linked to cyberattacks, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
In August two U.S. lawmakers urged the Biden administration to probe the Chinese router-manufacturer and its affiliates over fears their Wifi routers could be used in cyber attacks against the U.S., according to a letter seen by Reuters.
The Commerce, Defense, and Justice departments have opened separate probes into the company, with authorities targetting a ban on the sale of TP-Link routers in the U.S. as early as next year, the report said.
An office of the Commerce Department has even subpoenaed the company while the Defense Department launched its investigation into Chinese-manufactured routers earlier this year, the newspaper reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Last year, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency said TP-Link routers had a vulnerability that could be exploited to execute remote code.
Now TP-Link is highly competitive in the home router market via their aggressive pricing relative to companies like ASUS, Netgear, and others. And ISP’s have been supplying TP-Link gear to their customers for some time now. For example, when I switched from Bell to Distributel, I got a TP-Link router. I didn’t use it though which now looks like it may have been a good decision on my part. But one thing that might be driving this is the fact that TP-Link’s routers have been the target of botnets like this one for some time. And there have always been rumours in security circles that these routers have unpatched vulnerabilities that can come back to bite users of these routers at some point. Thus if you were thinking of buying a TP-Link router, you might want to hold off doing so until you see how this plays out. And if you own one, you may want to consider switching to another brand if this ban actually happens.
Finally, some advice for TP-Link, you may want to come out with a statement that is evidence backed which describes in detail why your gear isn’t a threat and what you’re going to do to improve your security posture. And then commit to throwing the metaphorical doors open so that the world can see you taking action. And you should do that ASAP. As in today.
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This entry was posted on December 18, 2024 at 9:33 am and is filed under Commentary with tags TP-Link. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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You May Not Want To Buy That TP-Link Router For Christmas As It May Be Banned As A National Security Risk
If you want to buy a TP-Link router, or you own one, you might want to pay attention to the fact that three US Government agencies are investigating TP-Link at the moment:
U.S. authorities are considering a ban on China’s TP-Link Technology Co over potential national security concerns after its home internet routers were linked to cyberattacks, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
In August two U.S. lawmakers urged the Biden administration to probe the Chinese router-manufacturer and its affiliates over fears their Wifi routers could be used in cyber attacks against the U.S., according to a letter seen by Reuters.
The Commerce, Defense, and Justice departments have opened separate probes into the company, with authorities targetting a ban on the sale of TP-Link routers in the U.S. as early as next year, the report said.
An office of the Commerce Department has even subpoenaed the company while the Defense Department launched its investigation into Chinese-manufactured routers earlier this year, the newspaper reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Last year, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency said TP-Link routers had a vulnerability that could be exploited to execute remote code.
Now TP-Link is highly competitive in the home router market via their aggressive pricing relative to companies like ASUS, Netgear, and others. And ISP’s have been supplying TP-Link gear to their customers for some time now. For example, when I switched from Bell to Distributel, I got a TP-Link router. I didn’t use it though which now looks like it may have been a good decision on my part. But one thing that might be driving this is the fact that TP-Link’s routers have been the target of botnets like this one for some time. And there have always been rumours in security circles that these routers have unpatched vulnerabilities that can come back to bite users of these routers at some point. Thus if you were thinking of buying a TP-Link router, you might want to hold off doing so until you see how this plays out. And if you own one, you may want to consider switching to another brand if this ban actually happens.
Finally, some advice for TP-Link, you may want to come out with a statement that is evidence backed which describes in detail why your gear isn’t a threat and what you’re going to do to improve your security posture. And then commit to throwing the metaphorical doors open so that the world can see you taking action. And you should do that ASAP. As in today.
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This entry was posted on December 18, 2024 at 9:33 am and is filed under Commentary with tags TP-Link. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.