Cisco Will Ship Its Equipment to Empty Houses to Dodge the NSA

[Newsjock]

Source: Gizmodo

The NSA is willing to go frighteningly far for your secrets, but at least one hardware manufacturer is willing to go further. A Cisco executive just said his company will ship its networking equipment to vacant addresses to avoid NSA interception. Clever idea.

The NSA was caught putting backdoors in Cisco electronics last year, and this week Cisco's security chief John Stewart revealed the dead drop plan to skirt the government snooping, admitting it's not foolproof. "We ship (boxes) to an address that's has nothing to do with the customer, and then you have no idea who ultimately it is going to," he explained. "There is always going to be inherent risk."

... Of course, Cisco is also trying to figure out exactly who has NSA beacons already installed in their equipment, though it's hard for them to tell since they have no idea what the NSA's top secret technology. The company's best bet is to ask customers to pick up the equipment directly from the factory or ship it to an empty house, as if it were some sort of drug deal. Because this is what surveillance in America has come to.

Read more: http://gizmodo.com/ciscos-going-to-ship-its-equipment-to-empty-houses-to-d-1692376538

[jeff47]

1. Yeah, that's rather trivial to circumvent.

Just install the (sinister music) backdoor on every box that leaves Cisco.

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. I thought that is what NSA WAS doing.

Why would they need a correct address in order to intercept computers being mailed from Cisco, if they were grabbing them between Cisco and the customer?

A bigger question: HOW does NSA grab the mailed computers.?
Are the carriers of the merchandise complicit?

[jeff47]

5. The claim was that the NSA intercepted some shipments

that were being sent to specific targets. Such as "this box is going to the Iranian government".

Others have then assumed that this same pattern applies to a much larger swath of hardware, because that helps sell the story they want to tell.

Fact is, if a nation-scale "hacking" entity wants in your network, they're getting in your network. Be they the NSA or another country's equivalent. It really doesn't matter if the backdoor is installed by intercepting the shipment, or on a thumbdrive smuggled into the isolated network (Stuxnet).

They will get in, because their resources are so far beyond yours. Just like your company's security guards will not be able to stop the 101st Airborne.

[dixiegrrrrl]

7. We are so far down the rabbit hole....

[jeff47]

8. Not really. Do you fear the Army busting through your office door?

If you're comfortable that a tank isn't going to be driving through your front door, why do you fear an electronic equivalent?

[dixiegrrrrl]

9. Maybe the Gov. snooping on people is a normal thing for you

but is not for me.

[jeff47]

10. Novelty doesn't change the situation.

The Army could come crashing through your door. It isn't. Because you aren't interesting to them.

The NSA could be "snooping" on your network. There's little reason to believe it actually is. Because you aren't interesting to them.

[BillZBubb]

2. Like that would stop the NSA

The only secure way to guarantee no NSA tampering is to send a vetted security team with the equipment.

[jeff47]

6. Iran and their stuxnet-infected isolated network say "hi". (nt)

[Hekate]

4. Kick

[dissentient]

11. Cisco just went up a few notches in the public eye, good for them.