That would make sense if the command and control centers for the back doors where just in one ASN, Country etc. But they are not. They are around the world and move when discovered.
But aren't this command or control centers IPs hardcoded at the firmware? It would be a dinamic question, but asap a new firmware was released, the new IP could be blocked.
Of course, if it affects known routers...
Unfortunately, this strategy has been used in my country (Brazil), where we are increasingly losing the possibility of expressing ourselves freely. This methodology was used to block websites where some dared to express opinions against the current regime, such as Rumble, and it is effective, circumventable only with the use of VPNs.
Persuade this group of what exactly?
I don't doubt for a second that there are issues & threats with devices. So, no need to convince me of that.
My comments are about a poorly thought out ban, that is poorly implemented, and apparently based on a naive (at best) paper written by NIST.
What are you trying to get at?
S.
@ronv42 You see, the immediate problem here is trust. To this point, so many actions have taken place to erode or eliminate trust entirely. It's difficult to accept that one morning, someone with such broad reaching power, got out of bed and decided this is the best way to resolve security vulnerabilities and protect Americans. Personally, I would have thought if this was the true driver, business and enterprise level products should be targeted first. This is where inappropriate access and handling of sensitive information can do the most harm to the greatest number of people. There is no question that cybersecurity is a broad, very complex, difficult to manage problem. I'm skeptical, so let's just see what happens next.
It's hard for me to accept the true reasoning has been offered to the people. That said, I've been wrong before and there have been times I hoped I was wrong. I feel extremely bad for my many American friends and the widespread problems they are facing every day.
Certainly, there are problems with bugs in software that allow security breaches.
There are problems with companies abandoning customers and products.
Security IS very complex.
The FCC has now effectively said that nobody can develop and sell new consumer routers in the US anymore. And, after that date in 2027, they can't provide software updates and fixes.
So, what they did was force everyone to remain on old gear that gets NO security patches after 2027. That is doing the OPPOSITE of addressing security problems.
And, while there may potentially be some bad actors, the universal ban impacts everyone.
And, it doesn't appear they have a very good plan for how to decide who might get exemptions from this. Because nobody is going to be able to spin up large scale manufacturing and design in the US in just a few months.
The actual actions being taken vs. the threats they referenced seem largely unrelated. The threats they referred to would pertain more to government (which is totally exempt from the rule) and business (likewise, apparently not covered). Foreign governments might be interested in using routers as DDOS hosts (maybe), but the real information they'd want isn't lurking on home systems--it's in major businesses and government, which aren't impacted by the ban!
All in all, this makes no sense and appears very ill-thought.
Which, reasonably, then makes one wonder why they did it and what's going on. One thought exercise path leads to the idea they actually want to ENSURE that certain "things" are put in place (rather than ensuring actual security)--and this would certainly raise pressure on vendors to comply.
"Latest Trump Shakedown".
Ugh. That's enough for me to dismiss that article as not worth reading. Like the president of the United States has nothing better to do than to lie awake at night, diabolically scheming on how to create another "shakedown" and routers are his current focus.
Whether the router ban makes sense or not is a subject worth exploring, if done in a reasoned, non-emotional and certainly non-political manner. Governments don't always do smart things (which is probably a gross understatement). Especially when bureaucrats and policy wonks get involved. Whether this is stupid or not remains to be seen. Just the facts, ma'am.
It's not likely that Trump himself made that type of low-level, detailed decision.
However, Trump APPOINTED the key people at the top (and he chose people who he felt would aggressively do what he wanted, seemingly more so than most previous presidents). He has made no secret about his desire to encourage more manufacturing in the US and he has also made no secret of his demand that his appointees implement policies that align with his desires.
As the head of the Executive Branch of the government, which is where this policy came from, Trump IS ultimately "responsible" for what happens. That's not partisan, that's just how things actually work in our government.
Looking at the factual news, Trump has imposed stiff tariffs on nearly every country in the world and even threatened 155% tariffs on China. Once he got some sort of monetary & policy concessions, he generally lowered them somewhat.
Shakedown: "an act of extorting money from someone through threats".
So, given his actions and the definition of "shakedown", that's not an unreasonable or even biased description of what he has done--it's an accurate description based on facts.
Watching.
And didn’t the Supreme Court recently invalidate that tariff program?
This “ban” appears to be so poorly thought out and executed, unless the real purpose is to force router manufacturers and the countries they’re located in (i.e. China) back to some kind of negotiating table.
Really sounds like a shakedown to me too.
And the question remains, after banning drones and routers, what comes next?
Profit? ![]()
Hundreds of billions in refunds?
Are you hinting at router smuggling?
I'd imagine the pivot is separating the radio from the router. Everyone pays more.
Was thinking more like a US Cyber Resilience Act, but wait, the folks across the pond require up to 10 years of security vulnerabilities updates, so that must not be it...
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For the past couple of decades, the routers I have used have been designed and manufactured by Asus, Netgear, and TP-Link/Archer. These routers have been manufactured in Taiwan. Although the labels say "Made in China", there continues to be a deep rift in philosophy between Mainland China and Taiwan. The critical factor is not where the device is manufactured, but where the firmware is coded. Very few, if any, consumer grade routers are produced in the USA.
While routers are the current target, where will this lead. Will the FCC also ban computers whose parts are not made in the USA. I have computers from HP, Asus/Alienware, MSI, and AMD. Will these non-USA products be banned as well?
Smart Home Hubs ![]()
Their scope is only things with radios so it could mean removing radios from the board.