FCC Bans All New Routers Not Made in America

On Monday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) essentially made it illegal to sell consumer grade routers that aren’t made in the U.S. unless they’ve already received FCC authorization. This policy update, “does not prohibit the import, sale, or use of any existing device models the FCC previously authorized,” an FCC fact sheet says. Nonetheless, the move forces the manufacturing of routers to be moved to the U.S. rapidly, particularly since it’s not clear that any consumer routers are currently made in the U.S. The FCC’s public notice about this new router ban quotes a very dire-sounding “National Security Determination” at the FCC that was apparently issued on Friday: “Recently, malicious state and non-state sponsored cyber attackers have increasingly leveraged the vulnerabilities in small and home office routers produced abroad to carry out direct attacks against American civilians in their homes.” The National Security Determination goes on to say that router vulnerabilities have been exploited as part of a series of notorious attacks and hacks, including the 2024 action by the hacker group Salt Typhoon. It says the supply chain for routers must be secured so that Ameri