Ethical Hacking News
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has launched a lawsuit against TP-Link Systems, accusing the company of deceptively marketing its routers as secure while allowing Chinese state-backed hackers to exploit firmware vulnerabilities and access users' devices. The lawsuit claims that TP-Link misled buyers by labeling its products "Made in Vietnam" while sourcing nearly all components from China.
Texas has launched a lawsuit against TP-Link Systems for allegedly deceiving customers about the security of its routers. The lawsuit claims that Chinese state-backed hackers can exploit firmware vulnerabilities and access users' devices due to TP-Link's sourcing from China. TP-Link's products have been used in a large-scale credential-theft botnet linked to password-spray attacks. The company denies any involvement with the Chinese government or CCP, claiming it is an independent American company. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton seeks civil monetary penalties and injunctions to require TP-Link to disclose Chinese origins of its devices and stop collecting consumer data without consent.
Texas has launched a lawsuit against networking giant TP-Link Systems, accusing the company of deceptively marketing its routers as secure while allowing Chinese state-backed hackers to exploit firmware vulnerabilities and access users' devices. The lawsuit follows an investigation launched in October by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who claims that TP-Link misled buyers by labeling its products "Made in Vietnam" while sourcing nearly all components from China.
According to the lawsuit, this is important because Chinese law can compel companies with Chinese supply-chain ties to cooperate with government intelligence requests and hand over user data. The suit points to a history of security failures, including firmware vulnerabilities exploited by Chinese hacking groups and the company's routers being used in a large-scale credential-theft botnet later linked to password-spray attacks.
The botnet (tracked as Quad7, CovertNetwork-1658, or xlogin) was built from hacked home and small-business routers (primarily TP-Link devices) and operated by Chinese threat actors. "Despite its claims of privacy and security, TP Link's products have been used by People's Republic of China's ("PRC") state-sponsored hacking entities to launch multiple cyber-attack operations against the United States," Paxton added.
With nearly all of its products' parts imported from China, TP-Link's deliberate deception towards Texans regarding the nationality, privacy, and security capabilities of its networking devices is not just illegal—it is also a national security threat that enables the secret surveillance and exploitation of Texas consumers. Paxton now seeks civil monetary penalties and injunctions that would require TP-Link to disclose the Chinese origins of its devices and stop collecting consumer data without informed consent.
Federal agencies have previously flagged actively exploited flaws in TP-Link hardware, and CISA currently lists half a dozen TP-Link security flaws in its catalog of vulnerabilities known to be exploited in attacks. The U.S. government was also reportedly considering banning TP-Link routers, with the U.S. Departments of Justice, Commerce, and Defense investigating the issue, and at least one Commerce Department office having subpoenaed the company.
In December 2024, Texas Attorney General Paxton sued five major television manufacturers (i.e., Sony, Samsung, LG, and China-based companies Hisense and TCL Technology Group Corporation), accusing them of secretly and illegally collecting their users' data using Automated Content Recognition (ACR) technology. A TP-Link spokesperson told BleepingComputer today that Texas Attorney General Paxton's allegations are "without merit and will be proven false," that neither the Chinese government nor the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) exercises control over the company, its products, or user data, and added that all U.S. user data is stored on Amazon Web Services servers.
"TP-Link Systems Inc. is an independent American company. Neither the Chinese government nor the CCP exercises any form of ownership or control over TP-Link, its products, or its user data. TP-Link’s founder and CEO, Jeffrey Chao, resides in Irvine, CA, and is not and never has been a member of the CCP," the spokesperson said.
"To ensure the highest level of security, our core operations and infrastructure are located entirely within the United States, and all U.S. users' networking data is stored securely on Amazon Web Services servers. We will continue to vigorously defend our reputation as a trusted provider of secure connectivity for American families."
The future of IT infrastructure is here
Modern IT infrastructure moves faster than manual workflows can handle.In this new Tines guide, learn how your team can reduce hidden manual delays, improve reliability through automated response, and build and scale intelligent workflows on top of tools you already use.
Get the guide
Related Articles:
Police arrests 300 suspects linked to African cybercrime ringsChinese hackers exploiting Dell zero-day flaw since mid-2024Chinese cyberspies breach Singapore's four largest telcosDKnife Linux toolkit hijacks router traffic to spy, deliver malwareMan pleads guilty to hacking nearly 600 women’s Snapchat accounts
Related Information:
https://www.ethicalhackingnews.com/articles/Texas-Sues-TP-Link-Over-Alleged-Chinese-Hacking-Risks-and-User-Deception-ehn.shtml
Published: Thu Feb 19 12:02:23 2026 by llama3.2 3B Q4_K_M
