
US is investigating potential national security risks posed by internet routers used by millions
CNN
US officials are investigating potential national security risks tied to a telecom company founded in China whose internet routers are used by millions, multiple sources familiar with the matter told CNN.
US officials are investigating potential national security risks tied to a telecom company founded in China whose internet routers are used by millions, multiple sources familiar with the matter told CNN. US officials are concerned that cheap and ubiquitous routers made by TP-Link could offer a foothold for China-backed hackers into US infrastructure, the sources said. The Commerce Department has opened a probe into the company that is in its nascent stages. One possible outcome of the probe is a ban on the sale of TP-Link routers in the US, two of the sources, said. It’s just one of a flurry of actions the Biden administration has taken in its waning days that officials say are aimed at blunting China’s ability to hack the American telecoms sector. The actions will carry into the Trump administration as it inherits the steep challenge of trying to counter China’s aggressive use of cyber operations to collect intelligence The Commerce Department last week also sent a “preliminary finding” as part of a separate inquiry into another company, the US subsidiary of China Telecom, the state-owned telecoms giant, related to national security risks that US officials believe stem from the use of its equipment by American telecom companies, two sources said. It’s the first step in a potential purge of any remaining China Telecom gear from US carriers. All of it comes as major US telecom carriers are still working to evict Chinese hackers from their networks in a cyber-espionage campaign that targeted senior US political figures, including President-elect Donald Trump.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth risked compromising sensitive military information that could have endangered US troops through his use of Signal to discuss attack plans, a Pentagon watchdog said in an unclassified report released Thursday. It also details how Hegseth declined to cooperate with the probe.

Two top House lawmakers emerged divided along party lines after a private briefing with the military official who oversaw September’s attack on an alleged drug vessel that included a so-called double-tap strike that killed surviving crew members, with a top Democrat calling video of the incident that was shared as part of the briefing “one of the most troubling things” he has seen as a lawmaker.

Authorities in Colombia are dealing with increasingly sophisticated criminals, who use advanced tech to produce and conceal the drugs they hope to export around the world. But police and the military are fighting back, using AI to flag suspicious passengers, cargo and mail - alongside more conventional air and sea patrols. CNN’s Isa Soares gets an inside look at Bogotá’s war on drugs.

As lawmakers demand answers over reports that the US military carried out a follow-up strike that killed survivors during an attacked on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean, a career Navy SEAL who has spent most of his 30 years of military experience in special operations will be responsible for providing them.









