Chinese Routers Under Microscope in House Commerce Committee

The House Energy and Commerce Committee is scheduled to mark up a bill on March 20 that would direct the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration to undertake a study on whether routers and modems designed, developed, manufactured, or supplied by Chinese firms, or firms from other adversary countries, are a risk to national security.

Co-sponsor Rep. Bob Latta, R-Ohio, compared the use of Chinese-made routers in homes to the risk posed by Huawei and ZTE in commercial networks.

Although the bill is called the Removing Our Unsecure Technologies to Ensure Reliability and Security Act, or Routers Act, it doesn't place import restrictions on the goods.

"Communist China state-sponsored companies are known to make unsecured routers -- sold here in the United States -- that are easily susceptible to cyberattacks and serve as entry points for bad actors into consumers’ homes, networks, and devices," Latta said.