On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives’ Special Committee on U.S.-China Strategic Competition urged Americans to remove wireless routers produced by Chinese companies from their homes, including the routers manufactured by TP-Link.
The committee had previously pushed the U.S. Department of Commerce to investigate the Chinese company UNIC Technology (TP-Link Technology Co., also known as Lianzhou). The committee warned that routers produced by Chinese companies pose a security threat, opening the door for Chinese hackers to invade critical infrastructure in the United States.
According to data from the research company IDC, TP-Link is the world’s top-selling wireless router company.
Rob Joyce, former cybersecurity director of the National Security Agency, stated during the committee hearing on Wednesday that TP-Link devices expose individuals to network intrusions, allowing hackers to obtain the chips to attack critical infrastructure.
“We need to take action to replace these devices to prevent them from becoming tools for attacking the United States,” Joyce said.
Reports suggest that the U.S. government is considering banning the sale of routers from this company.
In a statement to Reuters, TP-Link stated that the hearing did not provide any evidence linking the company to the Chinese government. They mentioned, “No government can access or control the design and production of our routers.”
Jeff Barney, President of TP-Link Systems Inc., said, “Any suggestion that our products pose a unique risk to U.S. national security is unfounded and unreasonable.”
Barney explained that TP-Link Systems Inc. has split from TP-Link Technology Co. in China and currently manufactures routers in Vietnam.
During the hearing, Democratic chief congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi held up a consumer-grade TP-Link router and said, “Don’t use this; I don’t have this in my home, it’s not a good idea.”
Krishnamoorthi emphasized that the U.S. must deter Chinese hackers with offensive measures. He stated, “I believe we should also consider engaging the private sector in countering hackers. It might get me into trouble for saying this, but sometimes you have to fight fire with fire.”