The United States may ban routers from the Chinese company TP-Link Technology. The Wall Street Journal reports this, citing sources.
The authorities are investigating whether the Chinese company, whose popular home Internet routers have been linked to cyberattacks, poses a threat to national security.
TP-Link dominates the home router market in the US with 65% of sales, the newspaper writes, and it is also the sales leader on Amazon. In Ukraine, these routers are also among the leaders.
The suspicion is probably related to Microsoft's publication about attacks on Azure servers from TP-Link devices, connected to a network in the interests of Chinese hacker groups. At the same time, TP-Link has poor contact with specialists looking for vulnerabilities in equipment.
According to Reuters, in August, two US lawmakers called on the Biden administration to conduct an inspection of the Chinese router manufacturer and its affiliates due to concerns that their Wi-Fi routers could be used for cyberattacks against the United States.
The investigation is being conducted by three US ministries – Justice, Trade and Defense, and the Ministry of Commerce has already sent a notice to the Chinese company.
In any case, the Trump administration, which has consistently taken a position of containing China, will have to deal with all this, the newspaper notes.