[afnog] Cisco Source Code Reportedly Stolen

[Brian Longwe]

This is really scary!

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Cisco Source Code Reportedly Stolen
By Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
May 18, 2004


The FBI confirmed Tuesday that it is working with Cisco Systems Inc.  
to investigate the possible theft of source code for Cisco's main  
networking device operating system.

FBI spokesman Paul Bresson said that the FBI is lending its  
"assistance" into the "possible" theft. "We are aware of it, and  
we're working with [Cisco] to resolve whatever issues may exist,"  
said Bresson, in Washington, D.C.

According to a Russian security Web site, criminal hackers broke into  
Cisco Systems' corporate network last week and stole 800MB of source  
code for IOS 12.3 and 12.3t (an early deployment version of the  
operating system containing features not found in the vanilla 12.3  
version). In addition, a 2.5MB sample of what is supposedly IOS code  
was released on an Internet Relay Chat channel as proof of the  
alleged theft.

"Cisco is aware that a potential compromise of its proprietary  
information occurred and was reported on a public website just prior  
to the weekend," said Cisco spokesman Robert Barlow. "Cisco is fully  
investigating what happened. As a matter of policy, we take security  
very seriously and we continue to take every measure to protect our  
intellectual property, employee and customer information."

IOS 12.3 is the newest main version of San Jose, Calif.-based Cisco's  
popular operating system. It's used across the company's networking  
line, including in home office routers (the 800 Series); those for  
branch offices (the 3700 Series); and those that comprise the  
Internet backbone (the 7000 Series). Other routers that use the  
operating system include the 1700, 2500, 2600 and 3600 Series.

This could represent a major security threat not just for Cisco  
users, but for the entire Internet. According to the Dell'Oro Group,  
a market research firm that specializes in the networking and  
telecommunications industries, Cisco owns 62 percent of the core  
router market.

With the proprietary source code in hand, criminal hackers could, in  
theory, create programs that could cause denial-of-service attacks in  
Cisco-based networks.

Barlow said Cisco would "continue to actively monitor the situation  
and will respond according to established process and procedures,  
should the need arise."
A previous major source code theft of parts of Microsoft's NT 4.0 and  
Windows 2000 has not led to any security violations. However the  
alleged theft of the Cisco source code, since it's both the most  
current edition and all of the code, has the potential to be more  
damaging.