May 11th, 2008
U.S. sold 3,500 fake networking parts
Contractors and subcontractors have ripped off the federal government for about $3.5 million in bogus networking parts, an FBI investigation has revealed. According to Reuters, Operation Cisco Raider revealed some 3,500 fake versions of Cisco equipment were sold to federal agencies.
The counterfeit parts moved from companies in China through distributors in the U.S., Britain, Canada, Germany and Holland. In one case a subcontractor sold fake parts to the Navy from a Chinese supplier.
The concern was that the Chinese parts could provide hackers with backdoor access to U.S. databases, but the investigation found the fake parts did not compromise security.
One odd twist: the investigation was somehow leaked to the website AboveTopSecret, which posted a copy of the FBI presentation to another agency.
