The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has extended a vital software lifeline for millions of American consumers who own foreign-made drones and routers. Originally facing a looming deadline that would have halted all security patches and firmware updates, owners of devices manufactured by companies such as the Chinese drone maker DJI now have until at least 1 January 2029 to receive essential software support. This decision reverses a policy that experts warned could have inadvertently created a massive cybersecurity vulnerability.
The restrictions originate from revisions to the FCC equipment authorisation rules that were adopted in October 2025. As part of a broader national security effort pushed by the White House to reduce reliance on potentially risky foreign technology, the FCC began adding certain communications equipment, foreign-produced unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), and critical drone components to its Covered List in late 2025 and early 2026. Consumer routers produced in foreign countries were subsequently added to the list in March 2026. The American government cited serious concerns regarding espionage, unauthorised surveillance, and data exfiltration, pointing to cyberattacks such as the Volt Typhoon advanced persistent threat, which attempts to leverage compromised hardware to establish command and control channels over American infrastructure.
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