The United States government is reportedly preparing to ban the sale of wireless routers and other networking equipment from TP-Link Systems, a technology company that currently enjoys an estimated 50% among home users and small businesses. Experts say the proposed ban may have more to do with TP-Link's relationship with China than any specific technical threats, as much of the rest of the industry serving that market also sources hardware from China and ships products that are insecure to begin with.
See also: TP-Link patches vulnerabilities affecting Omada Gateways
The Washington Post recently reported that more than six federal departments and agencies were supporting a proposed ban on future sales of TP-Link devices in the United States. U.S. Commerce Department officials concluded that TP-Link Systems’ products pose a risk because the U.S.-based company’s products handle sensitive American data and because they believe it remains under the jurisdiction or influence of the Chinese government.
TP-Link Systems denies these claims, stating that it has been fully separated from China's TP-Link Technologies for the past three years and that its critics have greatly exaggerated the company's market share, which TP-Link estimates at around 30%. The company claims to be headquartered in California, with a branch in Singapore and manufacturing in Vietnam. TP-Link claims to research, design, develop and manufacture everything except the chipsets in-house.
TP-Link Systems told the Post that it has sole ownership of certain engineering, design and manufacturing capabilities in China that were once part of China-based TP-Link Technologies and that it operates them without Chinese government oversight.
See also: TP-Link Routers: PoC exploit for zero-day released
Cost is a major reason why TP-Link devices are so popular in the consumer and small business markets. TP-Link has long had a reputation for flooding the market with devices that are significantly cheaper than comparable models from other vendors. This price, along with consistently excellent performance ratings, has made TP-Link a favorite among Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that provide routers to their customers.
In August 2024, the president and the ranking member of the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party called for an investigation into TP-Link devices, which they said were found on U.S. military bases and for sale in stores that sell them to members of the military and their families.
The letter referred to a May 2023 Check Point Research blog post about a Chinese state-run hacking group called “Camaro Dragon” that used a malicious firmware implant for certain TP-Link routers to carry out a series of targeted cyberattacks against European foreign affairs entities. Check Point noted that while it only found the malicious firmware on TP-Link devices, “the hardware-agnostic nature of the implanted firmware suggests that a wide range of devices and vendors may be at risk.”
See also: CISA adds two TP-Link vulnerabilities to KEV List
In a report published in October 2024, Microsoft said it was monitoring a network of compromised TP-Link small and home office routers that had been abused by several different Chinese state-run hacking groups.
