Two US lawmakers want the administration of US President Joe Biden to probe China’s TP-Link Technology Co (聯洲科技公司) and its affiliates for potential national security risks from their widely used Wi-Fi routers over fears they could be used in cyberattacks against the US.
US Republican Representative John Moolenaar and US Democratic Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, who lead the House Select Committee on China, requested a US Department of Commerce probe in a letter on Tuesday seen by Reuters.
TP-Link, which focuses on the consumer market, is the top seller of Wi-Fi routers internationally by unit volume, research firm IDC said.
Photo: Reuters
In calling for an investigation, the legislators cited known vulnerabilities in TP-Link firmware and instances of its routers being exploited to target government officials in European countries.
“We request that Commerce verify the threat posed by [China-affiliated small office or home office] routers — particularly those offered by the world’s largest manufacturer, TP-Link,” the letter to US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said.
They called it a “glaring national security issue.”
The US Department of Commerce said it would respond to the letter through appropriate channels.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Embassy said it hopes authorities would “have enough evidence when identifying cyber-related incidents, rather than make groundless speculations and allegations.”
TP-Link, founded in China in 1996 by two brothers and based in Shenzhen, said in a statement that the company does not sell any router products in the US and that its routers do not have cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
The letter is a sign of mounting concerns that Beijing could exploit Chinese-origin routers and other types of equipment in cyberattacks on US governments and businesses.
The US, its allies and Microsoft Corp last year disclosed a Chinese government-linked hacking campaign called Volt Typhoon. By taking control of privately-owned routers, the attackers sought to hide subsequent attacks on US critical infrastructure.
However, the vast majority of affected routers appeared to be from Cisco and NetGear, the US Department of Justice said in January.
The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency last year said TP-Link routers had a vulnerability that could be exploited to execute remote code.
Around the same time, US security company Check Point reported that hackers linked to a Chinese state-sponsored group used a malicious firmware implant for TP-Link to target European foreign affairs officials.
The US Department of Commerce has broad powers to ban or restrict transactions between US firms and Internet, telecom and tech companies from “foreign adversary” nations such as China, Russia, Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Venezuela if their products pose a national security risk.
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