FCC bans imports of foreign-made consumer routers

The Federal Communications Commission, which serves as the US telecom regulator, has ordered a ban on the import of new consumer routers manufactured overseas, citing cybersecurity risks. The order, published late Monday, specifies that the import ban will cover all consumer-grade routers produced in foreign countries. However, the agency clarified that this new rule does not affect existing routers that are already in use. New devices may still be granted an import exception if the Department of Defense or the Department of Homeland Security approves.

In justifying the regulatory ban, the FCC asserted that foreign-made routers pose unacceptable risks to U.S. national security. The agency specifically pointed to threats from China-backed hacking groups, including Volt, Salt, and Flax Typhoon. According to a report by Reuters, China commands around 60% of the market for consumer routers, which are used to connect homes and businesses to the internet.

The FCC noted that malicious hackers have exploited vulnerabilities in foreign-made hardware to target U.S. households and disrupt networks. Among the cited threats is Salt Typhoon, one of the China-backed hacking groups, which has hacked into dozens of phone and internet companies across the world, including in the United States. This group has been known to exploit vulnerabilities in routers made by Cisco, the American networking giant whose routers were exploited. Another group, Flax Typhoon, was accused of running a massive botnet of hijacked devices that targeted both U.S.-made and foreign-made routers to compromise at least 126,000 devices in the United States. Despite these details, the FCC did not provide evidence to show that U.S.-made consumer routers are more secure than routers developed overseas.

FCC chairman Brendan Carr stated that the agency will “continue do [sic] our part in making sure that U.S. cyberspace, critical infrastructure, and supply chains are safe and secure.” The decision comes after Carr and another commissioner voted in November to scrap cybersecurity rules that required telecom operators to secure their lawful intercept systems.

Why it matters

The FCC’s move targets a market where China holds around 60% of the share, signaling a shift toward protectionist cybersecurity policies that could disrupt supply chains around the world for home networking hardware.