FTC Says D-Link Routers and Cameras Are Vulnerable to Hackers

January 5, 2017, 8:57 PM UTC
US-POLITICS-FTC-RAMIREZ
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairwoman Edith Ramirez speaks about patent trolls and anti-trust issues at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, June 20, 2013. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)
Saul Loeb — AFP/Getty Images

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against D-Link on Thursday, arguing that the company failed to take steps to ensure that the routers and Internet-linked security cameras that it manufactures could not be hacked.

The FTC alleged that D-Link advertised their devices as secure, but then failed to address security flaws such as security gaps that allow hackers to take over consumers’ devices remotely.

Attempts to reach D-Link for comment were not immediately successful.

The FTC asked the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to order D-Link to improve its security practices and to pay the FTC’s costs related to the suit.

The FTC has taken up the role of investigating companies which are allegedly sloppy in their handling of customers’ data under rules it enforces against unfair or deceptive acts. Most recently it settled with dating website Ashley Madison for its lax data security.

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FTC commissioners voted 2-1 to approve the filing of the lawsuit. The Democratic chairwoman Edith Ramirez and commissioner Terrell McSweeny voted yes, but the lone Republican commissioner, Maureen Ohlhausen, opposed the filing of the lawsuit.

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