Two representatives of the House Select Committee on China have called for an investigation into TP-Link over potential risks to national security.
Republican Rep. John Moolenaar and Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi cited previous examples of vulnerabilities in TP-Link devices being used to spy on European government officials.
The known vulnerabilities in TP-Link devices pose a “clear national security concern,” the two said in a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo (via Reuters).
China plans to attack wifi routers
“…We request that the Department of Commerce verify the threat posed by (China-affiliated small office/home office) routers, particularly those from the world’s largest manufacturer, TP-Link,” the letter said.
Microsoft, along with the U.S. and allies, released intelligence suggesting that China was attempting to exploit Wi-Fi routers to launch covert attacks on U.S. critical infrastructure. However, a later Justice Department statement said that many of the routers cited in the intelligence were manufactured by Cisco and Netgear.
TP-Link has released a statement saying that their routers are not sold in the US and that their Wi-Fi routers do not have any security vulnerabilities.
In addition, the Chinese embassy said it hopes that US authorities “have sufficient evidence in identifying cyber-related incidents, rather than making groundless speculations and accusations.”
The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA) last year flagged a potential vulnerability in TP-Link routers that could be exploited to execute remote code. US security firm Check Point also found evidence that a Chinese state-sponsored cyber group spied on European officials by installing a firmware implant loaded with malware.