Crackdown On Counterfeit Networking Gear

angry tapir writes "US agencies targeting the sale of counterfeit networking hardware have gotten 30 felony convictions, including a man attempting to sell fake networking equipment to the US Marine Corps, and seized $143 million worth of fake Cisco hardware. The agencies have conducted Operation Network Raider, which has made 700 separate seizures of networking equipment since 2005, the DOJ said. In addition to the convictions and seizures, nine people are facing trial and another eight defendants are awaiting sentencing."

Get em

[Sean]

If people want to clone Cisco gear that's fine, just as long as they don't try to sell it to me as if it were the real thing

Re:Good news, I suppose

[ScrewMaster]

I suppose this is a good thing. Honestly though, I'm not entirely sure why this is considered news - the government has long been opposed to knock-offs of most things. It's a nice buff to the security community, but is so hard to detect that the over all effect is likely to negligible. I'll take a stand and say, "meh."

Still, it's better they target actual criminals than wasting our tax dollars supporting the likes of the RIAA.

What's really scary....

[irreverant]

Is the fact that they were trying to sell the knock-offs to the DOD for use with Marine Corp forces. My cousin is out there right now, and to know that operation critical hardware could fail because it's a knock-off and poorly manufactured - is the worst crime. These are our troops, brothers, sisters, friends, and family members. I would hate to think my cousin died because somewhere in someplace a network card failed to relay operational data.

Re:Get em

[hedwards]

That they suggest that Cisco will back the equipment when in reality nobody will. And in practice it's pretty much never really identical. Just looks like it and acts like it in the short term. Before the typically shoddy components break or destabilize and you're left with a mess and no warranty or way of getting your money back.

Re:Get em

[LurkerXXX]

If it's real Cisco gear, I can go to Cisco for support and warranty issues. If it's a fake, I'm left holding the bag. Clones sold as clones are fine. Clones sold as the real thing are a liability to me.

Cicso Hardware ...?

[mystik]

$143 million worth of fake Cisco hardware

So what ... like 2-3 Core Switches?

Re:What's really scary....

[framed]

...to know that operation critical hardware could fail because it's a knock-off and poorly manufactured...

...or it could fail because its designed to fail at exactly the right time, in the right way. That our infrastructure and military hardware contain so many parts from China has to be one of their best strategic advantages in any conflict we might have. They would be silly not to try and use that.

Mixed feelings

[sjames]

I have really mixed feelings about this. Much of this hardware is not truly counterfeit. It's actually unofficial production from the same components in the same factories as the legit gear. The only way anyone (including Cisco) can tell it from the real thing is the serial numbers.

On one hand, this is fraud an I'm all for stopping fraud. On the other, it only happens because Cisco chose to go with the dirt-cheapest labor out there knowing very well this was a likely result. The use of law enforcement resources is just externalizing the cost. Meanwhile, part of the reason U.S. domestic labor is more costly in the first place is because it exists under a regulatory framework that mostly prevents exactly this sort of fraud.

So they offshore the production and then to add insult to injury, underemployed Americans get to foot the bill for fixing the INEVITABLE fraud, and so are forced to help make the offshoring possible and profitable for Cisco. It's almost like having your employer charge you a fee to process the paperwork for your involuntary layoff.

Perhaps Cisco should bring it back onshore so this sort of fraud doesn't happen in the first place. If the DoD is really concerned about the security of the networking gear (and they really SHOULD be), they should INSIST that Cisco at least make their gear domestically.