House passes bill to study routers’ national security risks

Abill requiring the Department of Commerce to study national security issues posed by routers and modems controlled by U.S. adversaries passed the House on Monday, advancing legislation that lawmakers say is “crucial” to understanding the devices’ cybersecurity risks.

The House has moved quickly on the Removing Our Unsecure Technologies to Ensure Reliability and Security (ROUTERS) Act, which was introduced by Reps. Bob Latta, R-Ohio, and Robin Kelly, D-Ill., in March and advanced out of the chamber’s Energy and Commerce Committee three weeks ago.

The bill, which calls on Commerce’s assistant secretary for communications and information to lead a study into devices that are “designed, developed, manufactured, or supplied” by or subject to the influence of a “covered country,” takes particular aim at China and the state-sponsored hacking campaigns that have plagued U.S. networks.

Read more at CyberScoop