Confused by the recent ban by the US Government of consumer routers not made in the United States? There is reason to be. The language used to describe the ban accuses foreign-made routers of having significant security flaws, possibly even deliberately. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) quotes a White House interagency body saying the home routers are “a severe cybersecurity risk that could be leveraged to immediately and severely disrupt US critical infrastructure and directly harm US persons”.
That sounds extremely serious, but let’s dig a little deeper. The ban only affects new foreign-made routers, but not ones currently being sold in the US today. If that determination reflected reality, the ban would cover foreign-made home routers being sold in the US right now.
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Today, large groups of compromised routers, IoT devices, and PCs are used to conduct attacks, including distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks and other types of attacks. Many of these devices have been compromised due to software bugs or security flaws. The problem is real, but it’s been a problem for a long time, practically from the time broadband became common in households.
The real reason is clear. Sources indicate that China controls around 60% of the home router market in the US. Just like the previous and very similar drone ban, this is a geopolitical slap at China. The current administration can also issue waivers from the ban, and likely will to companies that it feels are most aligned politically with said administration.
The ban may have a small effect on overall home cybersecurity, but it will end up holding American consumers back, as the latest technology will be delayed. Competition will be lessened as well; only companies with waivers will be able to bring new products to market. Less competition will lead to higher prices for the American consumer.
If getting a new home router was something being contemplated, now is the time to pull the trigger, before there are fewer choices and higher prices.
