US regulator bans imports of new foreign-made routers, citing security concerns

The US Federal Communications Commission said on Monday, March 23, it was banning the import of all new foreign-made consumer routers, the latest crackdown on Chinese-made electronic gear over security concerns.

China is estimated to control at least 60% of the US market for home routers, boxes that connect computers, phones, and smart devices to the internet.

The FCC order does not impact the import or use of existing models, but will ban new ones.

The agency said a White House-convened review deemed imported routers pose “a severe cybersecurity risk that could be leveraged to immediately and severely disrupt US critical infrastructure.”

It said malicious actors had exploited security gaps in foreign-made routers “to attack households, disrupt networks, enable espionage, and facilitate intellectual property theft,” citing their role in major hacks like Volt and Salt Typhoon.

The determination includes an exemption for routers the Pentagon deems do not pose unacceptable risks.

Lawmakers have previously raised security concerns about Chinese-made routers and Representative John Moolenaar, the Republican chair of the House select committee on China, praised the FCC order.

“Today’s tremendous decision by the FCC and the Trump administration protects our country against China’s relentless cyberattacks and makes it clear that these devices should be excluded from our critical infrastructure,” Moolenaar said. “Routers are key to keeping us all connected and we cannot allow Chinese technology to be at the center of that.”

The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately comment.

Last month, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued TP-Link Systems, a California-based router manufacturer spun off from a Chinese firm, for allegedly marketing its networking devices deceptively and allowing Beijing to access American consumers’ devices.

TP-Link Systems said it would “vigorously defend” its reputation, adding that the Chinese government had no form of ownership or control over the company, its products or user data.

Reuters reported last month the Trump administration had put on hold a proposed ban on domestic sales of routers made by TP-Link.

The FCC issued similar rules in December that ban the import of all new models of Chinese drones. – Rappler.com