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Cisco Complains To Obama About NSA Adding Spyware To Routers

Posted by samzenpus on from the get-out-of-there dept.

pdclarry (175918) writes "Glenn Greenwald's book No Place to Hide reveals that the NSA intercepts shipments of networking gear destined for overseas and adds spyware. Cisco has responded by asking the President to intervene and stop this practice, as it has severely hurt their non-U.S. business, with shipments to other countries falling from 7% for emerging countries to over 25% for Brazil and Russia."

12 of 297 comments (clear)

  1. Why bother with tricks? by Katatsumuri · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Why does NSA have to do this? Can't they just order Cisco to install this in their factory?

    Or did they co-operate in this way to prevent whistle-blowing or counterintelligence at the factory?

    In any case, I doubt Cisco didn't know about this. They are probably trying to save their face after a third party uncovered this.

    1. Re:Why bother with tricks? by Tha_Zanthrax · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Cisco knew, they even had a 'choice' in the matter: cooperate with the government and keep your mouth shut about it or get your business ruined by that same government.

    2. Re:Why bother with tricks? by NotDrWho · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Why does NSA have to do this? Can't they just order Cisco to install this in their factory?

      Why risk someone at Cisco running to the press? Best to keep them out of the loop.

      --
      SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
    3. Re:Why bother with tricks? by NotDrWho · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If it weren't for Edward Snowden, Cisco would have never been able to complain--because no one would have ever known it was happening. Keep in mind that the NSA had been doing this kind of stuff for OVER 10 YEARS without a significant leak. So you can't blame them for functioning under the assumption that neither Cisco nor anyone else was ever going to know it was happening (until about 75 years from now, when it's finally declassified).

      --
      SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
    4. Re:Why bother with tricks? by kilfarsnar · · Score: 5, Insightful

      What they do is use their total information awareness to find some excuse to put the executives in prison for a completely different reason. The difference matters little to the executive.

      Now, who would do such a thing?

      --
      "What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
    5. Re:Why bother with tricks? by Lumpy · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Actually you can, Cisco can start hiring contractor security firms and get more guns than the NSA. an NSA agent that has a M16 rifle pushed in his face by contractors and being told to "please leave the premises..... SIR!" has two options, he can leave or he can be killed in self defense.

      A large very rich corperation can get away with a hired army to protect themselves from the government.

      but that slippery slope is very steep and very very slippery.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
  2. Re:Hypocritical by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It takes one to know one. The US government was afraid of that kind of thing exactly because they knew they were doing it to everybody else.

  3. Too late by sjbe · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Problem is that there is pretty much no possible way Cisco can put the toothpaste back in the tube. They have no simple way to prove to potential customers that their gear hasn't been hacked or compromised in some way. The actions (real or perceived) of the NSA have basically screwed a number of US companies in overseas markets where security is any sort of a concern.

    Basically even the perception that the NSA may have compromised the equipment is enough to keep people from buying Cisco. Of course then the question becomes who do you trust? The Chinese make a lot of gear but they are probably trusted even less than the Americans if anything. Unless the gear is manufactured domestically under supervision it's unclear how you ensure that no one has introduced undesirable code/hardware.

  4. Feeling ashamed by Chewbacon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...to think 40 years ago we were on the brink of nuclear war with a country that did shit like this.

    --
    Chewbacon
    The Bible is like Wikipedia: written by a bunch of people and verifiable by questionable sources.
  5. USA advised Australia not to purchase chinese by felixrising · · Score: 5, Insightful

    During the NBN infrastructure procurement process, apparently the USA provided intelligence to Australia indicating Chinese owned Huawei be excluded as a supplier . Not doubt to aid both Cisco's chances of winning the bid, whilst also providing an easy in for the NSA to get it's ears pre-installed in Australia's NBN well in advance. It certainly smells dirty to me...

  6. Re:Hypocritical by MaskedSlacker · · Score: 5, Insightful

    In the case of Cisco most of the world can trust their gear with the exception of people who are direct targets of the NSA.

    If there is anything we have learned since the Snowden Saga started, it is that most of the world are direct targets of the NSA. That is, your post is self-nullifying and vanishes in a poof of logic.

  7. Re:Hypocritical by AmiMoJo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm glad America approves me hacking American systems and spying on American people. After all, foreigners are fair game, and Americans are foreigner to me, so...?

    --
    const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
    SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC