D-Link

D-Link Corporation (Chinese: 友訊科技) is a Taiwanese multinational networking equipment manufacturing corporation headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan. It was founded in March 1986 in Taipei as Datex Systems Inc. It began as a network adapter vendor and has gone on to become a designer, developer, and manufacturer of networking solutions for both the consumer and business markets.

In 2007, it was the leading networking company in the small to medium business (SMB) segment worldwide with 21.9% market share. In March 2008, it became the market leader in Wi-Fi product shipments worldwide, with 33% of the total market. In 2007, the company was featured in the "Info Tech 100", a listing of the world's best IT companies. It was also ranked as the 9th best IT company in the world for shareholder returns by BusinessWeek.

D-Link operates an indirect channel model, selling through distributors, resellers, retailers, VARs, and Telecom Service Providers.

History

D-Link Corporation changed its name from Datex Systems Inc. in 1994, when it went public and when it became the first networking company on the Taiwan Stock Exchange. It is now publicly traded on the TSEC and NSE stock exchanges. It was founded by seven individuals including Ken Kao, the late Chairman of D-Link.

Product range

D-Link's products are geared towards the networking and communications market. Its business products include switches, surveillance network cameras, firewalls, iSCSI SANs and business wireless, while consumer products cover consumer wireless devices, broadband devices, and the Digital Home devices (which include media players, storage, and surveillance camera/NVR).

It was the first wired and wireless networking company to launch the green technology D-Link Green. D-Link first applied the power saving technology to its unmanaged switches and later to its wireless routers. The technology works by setting any ports that are not in use to standby mode to reduce power to idle ports, in addition to fanless and variable speed fans. "Green" switches can also detect cable length and adjust power output accordingly.

D-Link released the Boxee Box, which was a collaboration with the popular media streaming software known as Boxee. D-Link provided its customers with the actual hardware while the software was based on the Boxee software. The Boxee Box was released on November 10, 2010.

Examples of D-Link routers

• 

  D-Link DI-774

• 

  D-Link DI-514

• D-Link DI-524.jpg

  D-Link DI-524

• 

  D-Link DIR-600

Vulnerabilities

Several of their routers include a backdoor in the firmware in the /bin/webs file. By supplying a user agent of xmlset_roodkcableoj28840ybtide it bypasses the security.

In addition, some D-Link routers are vulnerable to DNS hijacking by an unauthenticated remote attacker when remote management is enabled.

D-Link has been criticized for HNAP vulnerabilities on some of their routers, and furthermore, failing to resolve such vulnerabilities acknowledged in their own security advisories in firmware updates.

In 2015 D-Link leaked the private keys used to sign firmware updates for the DCS-5020L security camera and a variety of other D-Link products.

Server misuse

In 2006, D-Link was accused of NTP vandalism, when it was found that its routers were sending time requests to a small NTP server in Denmark, incurring thousands of dollars of costs to its operator. D-Link initially refused to accept responsibility. Later, D-link products were found also to be abusing other time servers, including some operated by the US military and NASA.

GPL Violation

On September 6, 2006, the gpl-violations.org project prevailed in court litigation against D-Link Germany GmbH regarding D-Link's alleged inappropriate and copyright infringing use of parts of the Linux kernel. The judgement finally provided the on-record, legal precedent that the GPL is valid and that it will stand up in German courts.

See also

• List of companies of Taiwan

External links

• D-Link International
• D-Link source code released under GPL
• D-Link Device Listing

• Bloomberg Businessweek. "D-Link Corp." Retrieved July 11, 2012.
• Compiled from In-Stat Q1 2007 Wireless LAN Equipment Market Share Report
• In-Stat Q4/07 WLAN Market Share Report
• BusinessWeek Magazine, 'Info Tech 100' – Issue July 2, 2007
• DlinkGreen. "Green Technologies." Retrieved Jul 11, 2012.
• Andrew Kippen, Boxee. "Boxee Box by D-Link launches, good news re Netflix and Hulu." November 10, 2010. Retrieved July 11, 2012.
• Reverse Engineering a D-Link Backdoor
• GPL-Violations.org project prevails in court case on GPL violation by D-Link
• German version of the D-Link court judgement
• Unofficial English translation of the D-Link court judgement