Router Giant Rolled Out The Welcome Mat For Chinese, Russian Hackers, States Claim

Wi-Fi routers sitting in Americans home may be ones foreign hackers already know how to get into, a new lawsuit alleges.

Republican attorneys general in Nebraska, Florida, Iowa and Montana sued TP-Link Systems Inc. on Tuesday, accusing the company of misleading consumers about its routers’ security and its ties to China, according to the lawsuits. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) blocked new foreign-made routers in March, but its order does not address devices already in use.

“Some of these older routers can be easily exploited by other foreign intelligence agencies,” Republican Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

He urged Nebraskans to check whether their router is “past the time where it’s being supported, where there’s not new updates, or they can’t get new firmware.”

Owners should learn the risks, install any available firmware updates and replace default passwords, Hilgers said.

The Department of Defense designated TP-Link Technologies a Chinese military company in June. TP-Link and TP-Link Technologies have about 11,000 workers in China, but only around 305 in the U.S., Bloomberg reported.

TP-Link told customers its ties to China “have been severed,” Hilgers said in a statement.

“In truth, TP-Link’s products and systems still have strong connections to China, and its supply chain continues to be intertwined with China’s state-sponsored technology ecosystem,” he said.

TP-Link controls “at least 60%” of home and small-office routers sold in U.S. stores, according to former National Security Agency (NSA) cybersecurity director Rob Joyce’s March 2025 testimony before Congress. The company said it severed ties to its Chinese predecessor, TP-Link Technologies, in 2024.