US govt. is considering a ban on Amazon’s bestselling router brand

“Wall Street Journal” reports U.S. authorities have begun investigating whether routers made by manufacturer TP-Link pose a threat to national security and whether they should be banned.

The U.S. Departments of Commerce, Defense and Justice have all opened investigations into TP-Link, whose ubiquitous router is one of the best-selling routers on Amazon and is in about 65% of U.S. homes and small businesses. TP-Link equipment is also used by the Department of Defense and other government agencies.

What’s wrong with TP-Link routers? Well, they have security flaws and have been linked to cyberattacks in the past. For example, Thousands of TP-Link routers used A hacker attack targeted Microsoft’s Azure cloud service early last month. The hackers behind the attack are believed to have ties to the Chinese government. If U.S. authorities enact a ban, it could be implemented as soon as next year.

“We welcome any opportunity to work with the U.S. government to demonstrate that our security practices fully comply with industry security standards and demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the U.S. market, U.S. customers, and national security risk management in the United States,” TP-Link U.S. Distributor spokesman said.

Further reading: The most dangerous Wi-Fi attacks to watch out for