Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

SecurityWeekSecurityWeek

Audits

Judge Dismisses Part of FTC Case Against D-Link

A federal judge has dismissed three of the six counts in a complaint filed in January by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against D-Link. The FTC accused the Taiwan-based networking equipment manufacturer of failing to implement proper security measures and making deceptive claims about the security of its products.

A federal judge has dismissed three of the six counts in a complaint filed in January by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against D-Link. The FTC accused the Taiwan-based networking equipment manufacturer of failing to implement proper security measures and making deceptive claims about the security of its products.

The FTC said D-Link’s promotional materials and device interfaces falsely advertised the company’s products as being highly secure when in reality they were plagued with vulnerabilities that put consumers at risk.

The FTC’s accusations include failure to take reasonable steps to secure the software running on its routers and IP cameras, falsely claiming that it took steps to prevent unauthorized access, and falsely claiming that the devices were secure – both in promotional materials and in the devices’ graphical user interface (GUI).

D-Link immediately denied the allegations and retained the Cause of Action Institute, a non-profit law firm that represents companies in government investigations and litigation, to help it fight against the charges, which it described as “unwarranted and baseless.”

The networking equipment manufacturer and Cause of Action announced this week that a federal judge dismissed three of the six counts after the defendant’s lawyers argued in March that the case should be dismissed due to the lack of facts supporting the FTC’s claims.

CoA’s Michael Pepson pointed out that the FTC’s allegations were vague and unsubstantiated, and they did not mention any actual breach of D-Link products or harm to customers.

The judge dismissed the counts related to failure to take reasonable steps to secure routers and cameras, misrepresentation of security in promotional materials for IP cameras, and misrepresentations in router GUIs. The other three counts “state a plausible claim,” the judge said.

“We are grateful to the Court for taking the time to hear the arguments, carefully study the questions presented, and issue a well-reasoned decision on D-Link Systems’ motion to dismiss. Cause of Action Institute remains proud to represent D-Link Systems in this litigation,” Pepson said in response to the ruling.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

The FTC can amend its complaint by October 20.

D-Link also announced this week that it has released a firmware update for its DIR-850L routers to address several vulnerabilities disclosed by a researcher earlier this month.

Related: Vulnerabilities, Backdoors Found in D-Link Mobile Hotspot

Related: D-Link Failed to Patch HNAP Flaws in Routers

Related: D-Link Patches Critical Flaw in DIR Routers

Written By

Eduard Kovacs (@EduardKovacs) is a managing editor at SecurityWeek. He worked as a high school IT teacher for two years before starting a career in journalism as Softpedia’s security news reporter. Eduard holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial informatics and a master’s degree in computer techniques applied in electrical engineering.

Click to comment

Trending

Daily Briefing Newsletter

Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing to stay informed on the latest threats, trends, and technology, along with insightful columns from industry experts.

Understand how to go beyond effectively communicating new security strategies and recommendations.

Register

Join us for an in depth exploration of the critical nature of software and vendor supply chain security issues with a focus on understanding how attacks against identity infrastructure come with major cascading effects.

Register

Expert Insights

Related Content

Application Security

Cycode, a startup that provides solutions for protecting software source code, emerged from stealth mode on Tuesday with $4.6 million in seed funding.

Vulnerabilities

Less than a week after announcing that it would suspended service indefinitely due to a conflict with an (at the time) unnamed security researcher...

Cybercrime

A recently disclosed vBulletin vulnerability, which had a zero-day status for roughly two days last week, was exploited in a hacker attack targeting the...

Identity & Access

Zero trust is not a replacement for identity and access management (IAM), but is the extension of IAM principles from people to everyone and...

CISO Strategy

SecurityWeek spoke with more than 300 cybersecurity experts to see what is bubbling beneath the surface, and examine how those evolving threats will present...

Data Breaches

OpenAI has confirmed a ChatGPT data breach on the same day a security firm reported seeing the use of a component affected by an...

CISO Conversations

Joanna Burkey, CISO at HP, and Kevin Cross, CISO at Dell, discuss how the role of a CISO is different for a multinational corporation...