Overview
- Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit this week seeking civil penalties, injunctions, and a jury trial against TP-Link Systems Inc.
- The filing alleges TP-Link misled buyers with “Made in Vietnam” labels despite sourcing nearly all components from China and failing to disclose supply-chain ties that could trigger obligations under Chinese intelligence laws.
- The suit cites reported firmware vulnerabilities in TP-Link routers that China-linked actors allegedly exploited to build botnets and conduct attacks, including the Quad7/xlogin network identified by Microsoft.
- TP-Link denies the allegations as without merit, asserting independent U.S. operations, U.S.-based leadership and infrastructure, and storage of American user data on Amazon Web Services.
- Reports say a potential federal ban on TP-Link sales was paused ahead of a Trump–Xi summit, while Texas previously barred state employees from using the brand and notes the devices are widely distributed through hundreds of U.S. ISPs.