Matt Blaze18h ago

RE: https://infosec.exchange/@briankrebs/116280575943263005

You might wonder how it is the FCC regulates Internet routers. It's complicated.

First, FCC certification has long been required for virtually all microprocessor-equipped electronics, to ensure compliance with RF emission limits.

Then, in 2020, Congress enacted 47 USC § 1601, the "secure networks act", which requires the FCC to maintain a list of networking equipment determined to pose risks to national security: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/47/1601

Equipment on the list can't receive FCC certification.

Show threadMatt Blaze18h ago

So the regulatory authority for the FCC here is rather indirect, kind of a backdoor.

They don't regulate the Internet Protocols or Internet security per se, but they do regulate most of the *equipment* that the Internet runs on (because almost everything uses RF-emitting processors that require FCC certification).

Craig Stuntz16h ago
Show threadMatt Blaze

What the FCC has done here is added *all* foreign made consumer routers (that is, all consumer routers) to the "covered list" of national-security-threatening network gear, unless an exemption is obtained. See https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-26-278A1.pdf

Weirdly, they cite incidents like Salt Typhoon, which compromised carrier-grade equipment, not, as far as I know, consumer routers.

Mar 24 at 1:52amWeb
Show threadMatt Blaze18h ago
There will undoubtably be a lot of hairsplitting over definitions here. What constitutes "foreign made"? Assembled overseas? Made of components from overseas? Running firmware written overseas? etc.
Show threadMatt Blaze18h ago
Also, this will re-ignite the long standing debate over how to pronounce the word "router".
Show threadGabe18h ago
@mattblaze it rhymes with "scone".
Show threadElton Carvalho18h ago
@mattblaze I mean, isn't it just like "route" but with the r at the end? 😁
Show threadMatt Blaze18h ago
@eltonfc It's pronounced like "gif".
Show threadDave C.17h ago
@mattblaze @eltonfc pronounced like "drawer".
Show threadJima 18h ago
@eltonfc @mattblaze Ask an Australian to pronounce "router," or "route," and get back to us. 👀
Show threadElton Carvalho17h ago

@jima are we talking about networking, traffic or woodworking?

@mattblaze

Show threadJima 17h ago
@eltonfc @mattblaze Yes.
Show threadThepi14h ago
@jima @eltonfc @mattblaze I had a think about this a few weeks ago and decided that we should pronounce it 'rooter' like the British do, entirely because we also use the word 'root' as slang for 'to fuck' and pretty much every router is a pain in the arse little fucker.
Show threadStoneBear 6h ago

@thepi

I'm an ops guy from before the Great Renaming, and I approve this message. They're a right royal pain in the ASCII.

@jima @eltonfc @mattblaze

Show threadKen Butler16h ago
@eltonfc @mattblaze no, router is like rout, but route is like route.
Show threadOblomov16h ago
@eltonfc @mattblaze obviously, like wind and winding
Show threadme_valentijn13h ago
@mattblaze
I've read the comments before, so I'm confident it's the opposite of however you pronounce it 🤗
Show threadPaul_IPv618h ago

@mattblaze

hell, they debated the definition of "is". tech stuff? hopeless.

Show threadDiane18h ago

@mattblaze

Given this regime my guesses are "foreign made" is some combination of

  • hasn't bribed trump
  • hasn't included mandatory palantir censorship and surveillance code.
Show threadJoe18h ago
@mattblaze Paid off Trump == domestic, did not pay off Trump == foreign
Show threadａｎａｌｏｇ ｒａｃｃｏｏｎ17h ago
@mattblaze
Could Champagne rules apply? (ie, "it's only a 'router' if it's manufactured in the US; otherwise, it's just a 'sparkling network appliance'")
Show threadrun_atalanta 😷💯18h ago
@mattblaze And John Chambers of Cisco Proudly Declared that the corp was going to support the fed with Carnivore and the Patriot Act way back in... whenever.
Show threadJ. R. DePriest    :EA DATA. SF:18h ago
@mattblaze
After dismantling the task force investigating Salt Typhoon.