Donald Trump is about to become President of the United States and tech media publications, are already tipping a ban on high risk Chinese networking brand TP Link with some publications already identifying alternative routers for home and business use.
In December last year, it was revealed that the U.S. government is setting up to ban TP-Link routers which are widely sold in Australia despite the risks identified by the US Department of Defence and other leading Government bodies.
Observers claim that a ban in the US will have a massive impact on the Chinese Company with Microsoft already outing TP-Link routers for being used in a botnet that launched password spray attacks against Microsoft Azure customers in both Australia and the USA.
The botnet was used by Chinese threat actors to compromise targeted accounts on the Microsoft cloud network which is widely used by both consumers and business in Australia especially users of Microsoft 365 suite of apps.
Investigators at the US Commerce, Defence and Justice departments have all opened probes into the Chinese company and recent Chinese cyberattacks.
A decision by the Trump administration to ban TP Link who has become an increasingly dominant player in the US router having grown market share from 20% of total router sales in 2019 to around 65% this year could happen within weeks.
TP-Link disputed these numbers when US web site CNET published them late last year.
Much like Huawei back in 2019, there is the high probability that the brand might vanish from the U.S. market — but unlike Huawei, this might turn out to be a huge problem, because TP-Link routers are installed in a multitude of businesses and homes in the USA and was being used by the US military at one stage until they stopped service personnel using TP Link products including security cameras on military bases.
TP Link Tapo security cameras are facing a ban in the USA.
Digital Trends is already urging owners of a TP Link router to think ahead claiming ‘It’s a good idea to think ahead and potentially replace your existing router’.
In Australia Stacey Lay the Senior Marketing Manager at TP Link who made her first visit to CES this year has not commented on the risks associated with the Chinese router that can be purchased at a multitude of Australian consumer electronics stores and via B2b resellers.
Recently the U.S. Departments of Justice, Defence, and Commerce ended up subpoenaing the Chinese brand as claims against the Company mounted.
It all stems from alleged links to China-backed cyberattacks, some of which targeted key government organizations and their suppliers as well as companies with no links to the U.S. government.
Thomas Pace, the CEO of NetRise, a cybersecurity company, said recently that TP-Link had some security flaws, but it wasn’t alone — chances are that a router that’s completely immune to hackers simply doesn’t exist.
At this point, there’s no telling whether the ban will go through and what will happen if TP-Link routers are banned.
Alternatives for people concerned are D Link, Asus and Netgear as well as routers from Google.
Microsoft has found that TP Link routers were used in a so-called password spray attack and that this could happen again especially if consumers have a Chinese router or a router with a weak password.
If consumers or a business are using the default router that was given to you by your ISP, it’s a good idea to replace it.
Not only will the new router be better, but it might also be more secure.
Make sure to check with your ISP first.
Next, no matter if you have a third-party router make sure to change your password to something highly secure and strictly your own. Default passwords continue getting people in trouble on a regular basis.
Lastly, keep your firmware up to date and make sure that you’re using some protective measures, such as a firewall and Wi-Fi encryption. Hackers are likelier to target companies and government organizations than consumers, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.
