Lawmakers want networking giant TP-Link to be investigated by the Department of Commerce over concerns that the company’s Wi-Fi routers may give China easy access to US systems.
The call for an investigation into TP-Link routers comes from John Moolenaar (R-MI) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party.
The lawmakers are urging the Commerce Department to review the threat posed by Wi-Fi routers made by TP-Link Technologies that are deployed in the United States.
“Because TP-Link routers are made in the [People’s Republic of China] with Chinese technology, there are concerns that state-sponsored hackers may be able to more easily compromise the routers and infiltrate US systems,” the lawmakers said in a press release.
“Moreover, TP-Link is subject to draconian ‘national security’ laws in the PRC and can be forced to hand over sensitive US information by Chinese intelligence officials,” they added.
As an example, the officials have cited the China-linked Volt Typhoon attacks, which involved compromised SOHO routers. Volt Typhoon has been known to target Cisco and Netgear routers and there do not appear to be any reports about attacks on TP-Link devices.
The lawmakers also cited research conducted last year by Check Point, which found that a Chinese state-sponsored APT had created a malicious firmware implant tailored for TP-Link routers. The implant was discovered during a probe into attacks on European foreign affairs entities.
It’s worth noting that, according to its Wikipedia page, TP-Link Technologies, which is based in China, and TP-Link Corporation, which is based in Singapore and the United States, separated recently, and TP-Link Corporation is a standalone entity in all shareholdings and operational aspects.
SecurityWeek has reached out to TP-Link for comment and will update this article if the company responds.
The US previously banned Chinese equipment from companies such as Huawei, Hytera, Hikvision, Dahua, and ZTE over national security concerns.
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