D-Link fires back on FTC security complaint

by Joe Uchill - 01/06/17 12:23 PM ET

Taiwanese hardware company D-Link pushed back Thursday against a Federal Trade Commission complaint accusing the company of lax security practices.

The company, known for its network hardware, said in a statement that it would “vigorously defend itself against the unwarranted and baseless charges.”

The FTC alleges that D-Link has shown a pattern of poor security practices in its routers and internet-connected cameras. D-Link fired back that the FTC could not prove that customers were placed at abnormal risk of hacking.

The FTC suit comes at a time when the public is increasingly aware of the dangers of poorly secured devices, both in terms of protecting their own privacy and in stopping attacks that use poorly secured devices to overwhelm other servers. One such attack recently felled an important piece of internet connective tissue, halting access to Netflix and Twitter.

In its statement, D-Link describes its security processes as “more than reasonable.”

{mosads}”D-Link Systems maintains a robust range of procedures to address potential security issues, which exist in all Internet of Things (IoT) devices,” said the statement.

On Thursday night, D-Link also posted a question and answer sheet on its website for consumers, chiding the FTC for accusing the company of only general bad practices, rather than singling out individual products.

“What D-Link Systems products are impacted?” reads one part of the statement. “The FTC has made vague and unsubstantiated allegations relating to routers and IP cameras. Notably, the complaint does not allege any breach of any product sold by D-Link Systems in the US.”