Lawmakers Say TP-Link's Rock-Bottom Prices Fuel Chinese Cyberattacks, Back US Sales Ban
- Seventeen Republican lawmakers, led by Senator Tom Cotton, urged Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on May 14, 2025, to ban TP-Link's networking products in the US due to national security risks.
- The call follows concerns that TP-Link’s low prices and market share have allowed Chinese state actors to exploit its small and home office routers in cyber campaigns against U.S. Critical infrastructure.
- TP-Link disputes allegations of CCP ties, security flaws, and predatory pricing, calling the letter 'categorically false' and a smear campaign aimed at removing competition.
- Microsoft revealed in October 2024 a Chinese botnet, CovertNetwork-1658, which hijacked about 8,000 devices, mainly TP-Link routers, to conduct sophisticated cyberattacks starting August 2023.
- The lawmakers’ request supports ongoing investigations but acknowledges legal and evidentiary challenges, and the true scale of TP-Link’s risk to U.S. Security remains unclear.
11 Articles
11 Articles
Lawmakers Urge Commerce Department to Ban China-Linked Router Company
A bicameral group of 17 Republican lawmakers is urging Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to ban the sales of networking equipment from TP-Link, saying that the company has “deep ties” to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Led by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Rep. Riley Moore (R-W.Va.), the lawmakers sent a letter, dated May 14, to Lutnick, calling TP-Link “a state-sponsored networking equipment company” that poses “a clear and present danger.” “C…
US Lawmakers Call for Ban on China-Linked Router Maker TP-Link
Seventeen Republican lawmakers urged the Commerce Department to prohibit further sales of equipment from TP-Link Systems Inc., a Wi-Fi router maker whose links to China have raised concerns and prompted investigations in the US.
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