Some 3,500 counterfeit Chinese Cisco networking components worth $3.5 million have been recovered by FBI according to a statement.
Components included pirated versions of Cisco Systems routers as well as switches, interface converters and wide area network interface cards.
The investigation code-named “Operation Cisco Raider”, was started after an unclassified FBI PowerPoint presentation on the agency’s efforts to counter the production and distribution of counterfeit network hardware showed up on internet.
They feared that these fake networking components could be a security threat and could give hackers access to government databases.Some counterfeit products also went to defense contractors and other private-sector buyers.
According to James Finch, assistant director of the FBI’s Cyber Division:
This unclassified briefing was never intended for broad distribution or posting to the Internet.
Operation Cisco Raider involved 15 investigations at nine FBI field offices and the execution of 39 search warrants, the bureau said. The FBI release did not mention if any arrests had been made.
One official said that the components recovered by the FBI doesn’t pose threat and are not believed to have made government computer systems more vulnerable. No arrests were made.
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