Chinese router brand TP Link whose products are widely sold in Australia and the USA, are facing a new threat after the U.S. House of Representatives moved to protect the Countries technology infrastructure including home and business networks, from what is being described as threats from Chinese hackers and other malicious parties using routers manufactured by TP Link with the introduction of the Router Act.
TP Link whose routers have been found to contain Chinese Government malware have been singled out as a threat.
Lexington Institute’s Dr. Rebecca Grant claims that “The ROUTERS Act will compel the (US) Commerce Department to investigate and list dangerous products,” whose sales can then be halted. U.S. government agencies, including NASA and the Department of Defence”, who she claims reportedly purchased routers from the Chinese company TP-Link.
If acted upon TP Link sales of Chinese manufactured routers could be seriously affected.
Senator Marsha Blackburn who is backing the bill said, “Millions of families & small businesses use wireless routers for internet access, which are susceptible to infiltration by Communist China”.
Several US politicians and industry executives are calling for a ban of Chinese routers including TP Link products that are widely sold in Australia because they are offering margins to retailers that are higher than the likes of Netgear, the Amazon owned EERO which are manufactured by US Companies or Taiwanese routers from Taiwanese manufacturers D Link or ASUS.
Grant claims that “Any router made by a bad actor country may contain features that make it a cyber weapon.”
The resounding vote was not a surprise, as the US House Energy and Commerce Committee had previously voted 43-0 to pass the ROUTERS Act.
Recently ChannelNews revealed that Senator John Moolenaar (R-MI) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-CA) urged the Secretary to “investigate TP-Link Technologies and its affiliates under the Department of Commerce’s information and communication technology services (ICTS) authorities.” They continued, “Open-source information indicates that the company may represent a serious threat to U.S. ICTS security.”
As soon as the US military and the heads of security agencies such as Homeland Security and the CIA were made aware of the concerns earlier this month relating to concerns about TP Link the Senate moved quickly to enact the ROUTERS Act and prioritise their focus on other legislation protecting US Consumers from nefarious Chinese cyber activity.
Several US politicians claim that TP-Link’s routers have been found to have an “unusual degree of vulnerabilities” which is why they called on various departments and the US military department, to respond with findings on the company’s security risks by the end of August, and to determine if TP-Link products should be restricted in the U.S.
This resulted in the passing of the Router Act.
The lawmakers wrote, “companies like TP-Link are required to provide data to the PRC [People’s Republic of China] government and otherwise comply with the demands of its national security apparatus.”
The Australian Federal Government are aware of the moves in the USA but have not commented on any similar action in Australia.
