BrianKrebs (@briankrebs@infosec.exchange)
infosec.exchange
Whoa, that escalated quickly. This just got sent out by the press folks at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FCC says it has decided that all foreign-made consumer-grade Internet routers are henceforth prohibited from receiving FCC authorization and are therefore prohibited from being imported for use or sale in the United States. "Update Follows Determination by Executive Branch Agencies that Consumer-Grade Routers Produced in Foreign Countries Threaten National Security WASHINGTON, March 23, 2026—Today, the Federal Communications Commission updated its Covered List to include all consumer-grade routers produced in foreign countries. Routers are the boxes in every home that connect computers, phones, and smart devices to the internet. This followed a determination by a White House-convened Executive Branch interagency body with appropriate national security expertise that such routers “pose unacceptable risks to the national security of the United States or the safety and security of United States persons.” "The Executive Branch determination noted that foreign-produced routers (1) introduce “a supply chain vulnerability that could disrupt the U.S. economy, critical infrastructure, and national defense” and (2) pose “a severe cybersecurity risk that could be leveraged to immediately and severely disrupt U.S. critical infrastructure and directly harm U.S. persons.” "This action does not affect any previously-purchased consumer-grade routers. Consumers can continue to use any router they have already lawfully purchased or acquired." "Producers of consumer-grade routers that receive Conditional Approval from DoW or DHS can continue to receive FCC equipment authorizations. Interested applicants are encouraged to submit applications to conditional-approvals@fcc.gov." Not sure how many consumer-grade routers will be left for sale if it really is a ban on approvals for any foreign-made consumer routers like they said, and not just a bunch of already restricted Chinese makers like Huawei and ZTE. https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-updates-covered-list-include-foreign-made-consumer-routers FCC's "covered list" of "thou shalt not entities": https://www.fcc.gov/supplychain/coveredlist
  • gwl [he/him]@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    60·
    20 days ago

    The excuse that it’s for security reasons just immediately falls apart when you get to this part of the article:

    The notice from the FCC states that companies can apply for conditional approval for new products from the Department of War or the Department of Homeland Security. However, that requires the businesses to provide a plan for shifting at least some of their manufacturing to the US in order to receive that conditional approval.

    So it’s fine to supposedly threaten national security if you do some more manufacturing in the US? Uh-huh. How does that balance out exactly?

    • AngryDeuce@lemmy.worldEnglish
      6·
      19 days ago

      The unwritten part is where Trump gets a free gold plated golf cart or some other stupid shit to sweeten the deal.

      Its grift allllll the way down.

    • MortUS@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      20 days ago

      In the Age of Technology and AI, it does make sense to have any manufacturing operations in house than overseas. Ofc if there were countries we could trust that would be onpar as well, but the U.S. pretty much shit the bed on alliances.

      • gwl [he/him]@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
        5·
        20 days ago

        Sounds like it’s just a modern version of Indulgences to me.

        You have all sinned against God America, but if you pay the donation to the church government then you will be given access to heaven America

  • hperrin@lemmy.caEnglish
    53·
    20 days ago

    Awesome. So what used to be a $50 router is about to be a $150 router. Great.

  • gibmiser@lemmy.worldEnglish
    45·
    20 days ago

    Conditional approvals - it’s a bribe scheme. Companies can ask for exceptions. Sure they wouldn’t Grease any palms…

      • floofloof@lemmy.caOPEnglish
        2·
        20 days ago

        So the application process is “drop us an email and we’ll tell you where to deposit the money.”

  • Pulsar@lemmy.worldEnglish
    38·
    20 days ago

    The only explanation that makes sense to me is that this is a law to:

    1. get bribes or favors from telecom equipment manufacturers.
    2. Create a framework to force backdoors into consumer equipment.
    3. Force users to use ISP provided equipment.
  • Paranoid Factoid@lemmy.worldEnglish
    28·
    20 days ago

    I can understand the FTC being involved because trade. But the FCC? Maybe regulatory authority over WiFi? But this seems like massive over reach.

    Remember when conservatives claimed to support smaller government?

    • DarkFuture@lemmy.worldEnglish
      22·
      19 days ago

      Remember when conservatives claimed to support smaller government?

      I only remember when conservatives lied everytime they opened their mouths.

    • floofloof@lemmy.caOPEnglish
      9·
      19 days ago

      How about the bit where they say home routers have to be approved by the DHS or the “Department of War”? This is not normal.

    • halowpeano@lemmy.worldEnglish
      8·
      19 days ago

      I mean… “Small government” Republicans were always demonstrably lying, as far back as any of them have been alive. Every one of them just wanted to shift money from things that support people to the pockets of their donors.

  • melsaskca@lemmy.caEnglish
    281·
    20 days ago

    Even more isolationism. Knowing how the usa works, they discovered the equipment was set up for spying on their people and they want all of that “spying on their own people” power for themselves.

    • FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.worldEnglish
      8·
      20 days ago

      they want all of that “spying on their own people” power for themselves.

      My assumption as well, after after the video release in the Guthrie case, we know objectively that every device with a microphone or camera and a wireless connection is spying on us and feeding the data to the US government without a warrant too.

  • tabular@lemmy.worldEnglish
    22·
    20 days ago

    Only US allowed to spy on it’s denizens!!1

    People not being sure what their router is actually doing is the issue. Instead of hoping for local manufactoring why not mandate against black box software running on the router? Mandate routers come with schematics like all electronics used to do? Promote computer literacy while you’re at it.

    • Bluewing@lemmy.worldEnglish
      10·
      20 days ago

      A nice thought. But the Great Unwashed Masses do not care. They want a Quick Start Guide that just says “Plug it in” and no other steps required. They want the black box because they don’t want to learn and understand.

      And that attitude is less about the oligarchy and a lot more about all lazy people.

  • Zedd_Prophecy@lemmy.worldEnglish
    161·
    20 days ago

    Build your own open WRT router or get one of theirs. It’s the best way to go and you don’t get dragged through the monthly fee wringer for stupid child security or other stuff that is not well designed.

  • itisileclerk@lemmy.worldEnglish
    153·
    19 days ago

    But in fact USA and Israel are the countries that spy on anyone. I am more concern about USA and Israel spying than from India and China. In this point in history USA and Israel are the enemy of the world.

  • apftwb@lemmy.worldEnglish
    10·
    20 days ago

    TPLink needed to get their shit in order for years. This has been cooking since 2019. However, this administration is just turned it into a bribery scheme.