• TP-Link could be banned in the US come 2025.
• The brand is accused of predatory pricing and wilfully shipping routers with security flaws.
• It is alleged that the company’s products contain these flaws so that state-sponsored hackers have an easy route into the US.

Shenzen-based networking company TP-Link may find itself banned in the US if the Commerce, Defense and Justice Departments in the US find concerns during their investigations.

The government bodies are reportedly investigating it over concerns that the company is tied to Chinese cyberattacks, according to CNET, citing The Wall Street Journal.

It is alleged by a source that TP-Link routers tend to ship with security flaws and refuse to work with security researchers to address these flaws. However, as elaborated on by Malwarebytes, TP-Link has also been accused of predatory pricing and being sponsored by the Chinese government. As such, it could be banned in the US in 2025.

On that predatory pricing note, TP-Link reportedly pulled an Amazon and undercut its competitors to such an extent that TP-Link grew its share of the WiFi systems and small and home office routers to 60 percent from 10 percent.

But by far the largest concern is that the company’s routers could provide a gateway into US homes and offices, allowing state-sponsored hackers to sow chaos.

“TP-Link’s unusual degree of vulnerabilities and required compliance with PRC [People’s Republic of China] law are in and of themselves disconcerting. When combined with the PRC government’s common use of SOHO [small office/home office] routers like TP-Link to perpetrate extensive cyberattacks in the United States, it becomes significantly alarming,” the lawmaker investigating the matter wrote to Secretary of Commerce, Gina Raimondo in August.

The reason this appears to be gaining traction again is down to an alleged attack by China against President Elect Donald Trump and Vice President Elect JD Vance.

The Select Committee on the CCP wrote this week that state-sponsored cybercriminals compromised more than a dozen telecom providers. This attack saw text messages, call audio and data lifted from million of US citizen with a focus on Trump, Vance and some staffers on Kamal Harris’ campaign.

The response from lawmakers was to hit back and one way that could be accomplished is by banning Chinese brands and products in the US. However, banning TP-Link could be a disaster for US citizens.

As CNET outlines, 64.9 percent of US routers are made by the company and if the brand is banned, citizens would have to replace them, likely at their own cost. With the brand standing accused of undercutting competitors, that means that a new router could cost a person more than their TP-Link router did. As the publication reports, a comparable router from a US company costs over twice as much as a TP-Link router.

With TikTok about to be banned barring a turn around from US lawmakers and now TP-Link, it seems that the US really doesn’t want any Chinese tech within its borders lest it offer a way for hackers to spy on the country.

As it stands, it could become the next Huawei.