FCC Bans New Foreign-Made Routers Over Supply Chain and Cyber Risk Concerns
FCC Bans New Foreign-Made Routers Over Supply Chain and Cyber Risk Concerns
https://thehackernews.com/2026/03/fcc-bans-new-foreign-made-routers-over.html
Publish Date: 2026-03-25 03:11:00
Source Domain: thehackernews.com
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said on Monday that it was banning the import of new, foreign-made consumer routers, citing “unacceptable” risks to cyber and national security.
The action was designed to safeguard Americans and the underlying communications networks the country relies on, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in a post on X. The development means that new models of foreign-produced routers will no longer be eligible for marketing or sale in the U.S. The move comes in the wake of a national security determination provided by Executive Branch Agencies, Carr added.
To that end, all consumer-grade routers manufactured in foreign countries have been added to the Covered List, unless they have been granted a Conditional Approval by the Department of War (DoW) or the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after determining that they do not pose any risks.
As of writing, the approved list only includes drone systems and software-defined radios (SDRs) from SiFly Aviation, Mobilicom, ScoutDI, and Verge Aero. Producers of consumer-grade routers can submit an application for Conditional Approval. According to BBC News, Starlink Wi-Fi routers are exempt from the policy, as they are made in the U.S. state of Texas.
“The Executive Branch determination noted that foreign-produced routers (1) introduce ‘a supply chain vulnerability that could disrupt the U.S. economy, critical infrastructure, and national defense’ and (2) pose ‘a severe cybersecurity risk that could be leveraged to immediately and severely disrupt U.S. critical infrastructure and directly harm U.S. persons,'” the FCC said.
The agency said both state and non-state sponsored threat actors have exploited security shortcomings in small and home office routers to break into American households, disrupt networks, facilitate cyber espionage, and enable intellectual property theft. Furthermore, these devices could be…
