The US House of Representatives has approved the ROUTERS Act, advancing efforts to assess foreign-made router risks. The bill directs the Commerce Department to investigate routers and modems made or influenced by adversarial nations. Its passage reflects increasing concern over China’s role in exploiting router vulnerabilities for cyberattacks. The legislation gained bipartisan support amid fears of threats to American infrastructure security and privacy.
The bill emphasizes the need to investigate network devices from foreign entities posing potential threats to US national security.
The investigation will be led by the Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information at the Commerce Department. This comes after warnings from US security agencies about foreign exploitation of router flaws. The bill is a response to increased use of routers as entry points for cyberattacks.
Representative Bob Latta emphasized the critical role routers play in communications and the dangers of their vulnerabilities. He said the ROUTERS Act brings the country closer to preventing hackers from stealing data or causing network disruptions. The bill aims to ensure that foreign actors cannot use routers to infiltrate American systems. Latta worked with Representative Robin Kelly to push the bipartisan legislation forward.
Security researchers have observed that router exploitation has become a leading method for cyber intrusions in recent years.
Chinese-backed groups, including Volt Typhoon and Salt Typhoon, have used this tactic to target US networks. In 2023, another Chinese group, Camaro Dragon, exploited TP-Link routers using malicious firmware. The new bill seeks to counter these growing threats by removing insecure foreign devices from US networks.
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