Almost every wireless router used in US homes has been banned from sale domestically by a new Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruling.
The FCC states that all routers manufactured outside the United States “pose unacceptable risks to national
security or safety of the United States and security United States of America’s …
Late last year, the FCC banned its import and sale foreign-made dronesciting national security concerns. He classified them as “surveillance and intelligence-gathering tools, payload delivery platforms, and dual-use technologies with military and paramilitary potential” from consumer devices.
The agency used similar arguments yesterday import and sale are prohibited of all foreign-made internet routers.
The Executive Branch’s decision stated that the foreign-made routers (1) “create a supply chain vulnerability that could disrupt the U.S. economy, critical infrastructure, and national defense” and (2) pose a “serious cybersecurity risk that could be used to immediately and severely disrupt U.S. critical infrastructure and directly harm U.S. citizens.”
Thousands of Asus routers were discovered last year compromised by a botnet Cisco, D-Link and Linksys devices are also targeted.
A great deal
This is a huge deal because almost every wireless router used in US homes is made outside the US. This includes routers that come standard with ISPs, as well as models that people buy to get better features.
This means that ISPs will have to switch to US models and most routers currently sold to consumers will have to be phased out.
Because of how a foreign-made router is, the ban is so broad is defined in judgment.
“Manufacturing generally includes any major step in the process by which a device is manufactured, including manufacturing, assembly, design, and development,” the National Security Ruling states.
In theory, router manufacturers can apply for an exemption by proving that their devices are secure. In practice, this seems very difficult to achieve.
What does it mean to you?
It is important to emphasize that the ban applies import and sale more use it routers of foreign manufacture. Even if your router is banned from sale in the US, you can continue to use it.
However, since it will take a long time to scale up production of all-US-made routers, ISPs will face serious challenges in introducing them to new customers. If you’re thinking of changing your service provider, you’ll want to make sure your existing router is compatible or that they can provide a new one without delay.
The author of the photo Stephen Phillips – Hostreviews.co.uk about Open it
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