Findlay Times

Congressman Bob Latta (R-OH5) and Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) have authored a joint op-ed in The Washington Times, emphasizing the need for Congress to pass their ROUTERS Act. This legislation aims to safeguard U.S. networks and protect American citizens from cyberattacks allegedly sponsored by the Chinese Communist Party.

"Tens of millions of families and small businesses across the country use wireless routers as their primary access point to the internet. Many of these routers are susceptible to infiltration by foreign actors, including China, jeopardizing our national security and exposing our country to serious danger," Latta and Blackburn wrote.

The op-ed highlighted recent incidents where cyberthreats linked to China targeted critical infrastructure in the United States and Japan. "Just last year, U.S. and Japanese officials revealed that BlackTech, a hacker group connected to the Chinese Communist Party, targeted routers at government agencies and corporations in the two countries to steal intellectual property, including from the defense, technology and electronics sectors," they noted.

"In January, the Justice Department also reported that Chinese-sponsored hackers infected routers in the U.S. with malware to target critical water, energy and transportation infrastructure — an attack that FBI Director Christopher Wray called a 'pre-positioning to cause real-world harm to American citizens and communities in the event of conflict' between America and China," they added.

As leaders on key subcommittees related to consumer protection and communications technology, Latta and Blackburn are advocating for bipartisan support of the Removing Our Unsecure Technologies to Ensure Reliability and Security Act (ROUTERS Act). This proposed legislation would mandate a review by the Commerce Department of any router designed or manufactured under jurisdictions such as China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela.

"Depending on the study’s outcome, Congress could take further action to require the Commerce Department to designate dangerous routers as national security threats, allowing the FCC to halt their sale in America under the Trump-era Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act," they explained.

The ROUTERS Act recently received unanimous bipartisan approval from the House Energy and Commerce Committee with a 43-0 vote. Latta and Blackburn concluded by stressing the importance of protecting U.S. intellectual property, critical infrastructure, and citizens from potential cyber threats posed by foreign adversaries: "As China works to undermine U.S. global leadership, it is essential that we protect our intellectual property, critical infrastructure and American citizens from the Chinese Communist Party’s malicious cyberattacks."