· Authorities are investigating TP-Link routers as a national-security threat. The company's routers are in 65% of American homes and small businesses, and its products are found in several government agencies.
Amazon’s top-selling router could be pulled from shelves next year by federal authorities.
The Commerce, Defense and Justice Departments are investigating China-based router manufacturer TP-Link for possible national-security risks, reports The Wall Street Journal. TP-Link's routers power internet in roughly 65% of U.S. homes and small businesses, and its products are used in the Defense Department and other government agencies.
Should investigators determine the company does, in fact, represent a threat, authorities could ban the sale of the company’s products in the U.S. next year, likely after Donald Trump takes office. Trump has signaled plans to be especially aggressive in his dealings with China.
TP-Link did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment about the investigation.
The threat to the company’s market dominance comes after an October report from Microsoft found that Storm-0940, a collective of hackers from China, had control of a sizable number of networked devices that were linked to TP-Link routers. That has been the staging area for several cyberattacks on everything from think tanks to government (and non-government) organizations to law firms.
“Microsoft tracks a network of compromised small office and home office (SOHO) routers as CovertNetwork-1658. SOHO routers manufactured by TP-Link make up most of this network,” the report reads.
TP-Link’s dominance in the router market has grown substantially since 2021. In the third quarter of that year, it has a market share of just 33%. Today, it has almost doubled that number. The company has struck deals with many U.S. internet providers to be sent to new subscribers. It also sells its products at a considerably lower price than competitors, which makes it appealing to consumers, many of whom are generally not educated about this type of product.
At issue are security flaws in the routers, which are often left unpatched, both by consumers who don’t think to update the hardware and, reports the WSJ, by the company itself.
The investigation comes months after federal officials prohibited Kaspersky, a Russian software company, from selling its products in the U.S.
