{"id":168706,"date":"2026-02-17T22:15:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T22:15:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/168706\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T22:15:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T22:15:07","slug":"texas-attorney-general-sues-tp-link-for-exposing-users-to-cyber-risk-deceptive-business-practices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/168706\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas attorney general sues TP-Link for exposing users to cyber risk, deceptive business practices"},"content":{"rendered":"

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday announced he will file a series of lawsuits against Chinese companies, starting with one he\u2019s already filed against TP-Link Systems Inc., the American arm of the networking equipment maker, headquartered in Irvine, California.<\/p>\n

Paxton, a Republican, alleges in his suit<\/a> that TP-Link allowed the People\u2019s Republic of China access to Americans\u2019 devices, while sneakily attempting to disguise the equipment\u2019s origin by affixing stickers reading \u201cMade in Vietnam,\u201d the country where they\u2019re assembled.<\/p>\n

\u201cTP-Link has created a web of deception that includes shared manufacturing, research, and Chinese state-sponsored benefits, with the company\u2019s leadership acknowledging accolades and subsidies from the Chinese government,\u201d the suit reads. \u201cBy masking its Chinese connections, TP-Link has exposed millions of consumers to severe cybersecurity risks, including firmware vulnerabilities exploited by Chinese hacking groups.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his suit, Paxton points to the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, which lists the many ways in which companies are prohibited from misrepresenting their products, including<\/a> \u201ccausing confusion or misunderstanding as to the source \u2026 of goods or services.\u201d Paxton warns that \u201cTP-Link devices are currently for sale at major retailers throughout the State of Texas, hiding vulnerabilities behind misrepresentations of its affiliation and protection. Meanwhile, other TP-Link devices are already connected inside of Texas homes and businesses, lying in wait.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several federal agencies last year opened investigations<\/a> into TP-Link over concerns about its potential connection to cyberattacks. The company claims about two-thirds of the U.S. home and small business router market. A bipartisan group of lawmakers in 2024 called for a closer examination<\/a> of the company, citing a \u201cconcerning\u201d and \u201cunusual degree of vulnerabilities and required compliance with [Chinese] law.\u201d<\/p>\n

TP-Link Systems has repeatedly disputed allegations that its equipment poses national security threats.<\/p>\n

For its part, the Texas government has already prohibited state agencies from using or purchasing TP-Link devices. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott last year expanded<\/a> the state\u2019s roster of no-go companies, a list<\/a> that also includes the Chinese online retailer Alibaba, the Chinese fast-fashion platform Shein and the Chinese social media platform TikTok. Texas also last year created<\/a> a \u201chostile foreign adversaries unit\u201d in the state\u2019s Department of Public Safety, intended to address malign foreign influence campaigns, particularly those originating in China.<\/p>\n

Paxton said in press materials that his lawsuits, part of a \u201ccoordinated series of actions\u201d that includes an investigation into TP-Link that his office launched last October, are to \u201csend a clear message that in the Lone Star State we will always put Texas and America First. TP Link will face the full force of the law for putting Americans\u2019 security at risk. Let this serve as a clear warning to any Chinese entity seeking to compromise our nation\u2019s security.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"Colin<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tWritten by Colin Wood
\n\t\t\tColin Wood is the editor in chief of StateScoop and EdScoop. He’s reported on government information technology policy for more than a decade, on topics including cybersecurity, IT governance and artificial intelligence.
\n
\ncolin.wood@statescoop.com
\n
\nSignal: cwood.64\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday announced he will file a series of lawsuits against Chinese companies,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":168707,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[4486,9047,14275,1967,1932,27,29,28,68367],"class_list":{"0":"post-168706","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-attorney-general","9":"tag-china","10":"tag-cybersecurity","11":"tag-ken-paxton","12":"tag-lawsuit","13":"tag-texas","14":"tag-texas-headlines","15":"tag-texas-news","16":"tag-tp-link"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=168706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168706\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/168707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=168706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}