My previous blog, "Is Your Network Counterfeit - Part 1?" discussed the discovery by the FBI of considerable counterfeit network equipment. The security of the counterfeit equipment does not seem to be an issue, YET. I worked in military intelligence R&D. The best intrusion is one that is very difficult to detect.
My previous blog, "Is Your Network Counterfeit - Part 1?" discussed the discovery by the FBI of considerable counterfeit network equipment. The security of the counterfeit equipment does not seem to be an issue, YET. I worked in military intelligence R&D. The best intrusion is one that is very difficult to detect.Independent of the security issues, there are penalties for buying the counterfeit equipment: downtime, duplicate MAC addresses and other penalties are to be expected; counterfeit equipment has even caught on fire. The problem is not new. Counterfeit network equipment started surfacing in 2004. Many in the network business don't know how bad the counterfeiting can be to their operation.
Counterfeit Penalties So what can happen to the unwary buyer? Network components can fail immediately or early in their life cycle. Secure computer access may not be secure computer access. Encryption systems can be weakened and compromised. Here are some examples:
Counterfeit Detection There is a great page on the Web, and now it is quoted in many eBay listings. It is called the Andover test. This site is also mentioned in the FBI Powerpoint presentation, "FBI Fears Chinese Hackers Have Back Door into US Government & Military" found at the website, Above Top Secret. The presentation has a side-by-side picture of a Cisco WIC-1DSU-T1 card for comparison.
The Andover site has many photo comparisons of real versus counterfeit WIC cards. What is significant about this page is it shows that recognizing counterfeit products is relatively easy. Most of the effort should be diverted to teaching people to recognize the counterfeit vs. real differences. Any distributor/ seller/broker should be aware about how to tell the differences.
Counterfeit Prevention Counterfeit goods can occur anywhere in the distribution chain. Distribution can occur when a broker selling counterfeit goods claims they are legitimate goods and sells them to another broker, distributor or reseller. Eventually counterfeit products can become mixed with genuine products, making distinguishing between genuine and counterfeit extremely difficult.
Purchasing IT products through authorized channels or other means of distribution established by the original equipment manufacturer or directly from the manufacturer will greatly increase the enterprise's assurance that they are receiving genuine, new and factory warranted product. Most manufacturers have listings of authorized dealers on their websites.
An article, by Deb Radcliff, appeared on Network World, "Fake network gear: Counterfeit goods have popped up in the channel and could be in your organization." In the article, Radcliff provided several recommendations when buying products. She said, "Because clones and packaging are getting more realistic, many people don't realize they have counterfeit network equipment until it's installed and begins acting quirky. Outages and failures are often the tip-off that the gear is fake."
The following are Radcliff's recommendations to avoid counterfeit products:
Counterfeit Detection There is a great page on the Web, and now it is quoted in many eBay listings. It is called the Andover test. This site is also mentioned in the FBI Powerpoint presentation, "FBI Fears Chinese Hackers Have Back Door into US Government & Military" found at the website, Above Top Secret. The presentation has a side-by-side picture of a Cisco WIC-1DSU-T1 card for comparison.
The Andover site has many photo comparisons of real versus counterfeit WIC cards. What is significant about this page is it shows that recognizing counterfeit products is relatively easy. Most of the effort should be diverted to teaching people to recognize the counterfeit vs. real differences. Any distributor/ seller/broker should be aware about how to tell the differences.
Counterfeit Prevention Counterfeit goods can occur anywhere in the distribution chain. Distribution can occur when a broker selling counterfeit goods claims they are legitimate goods and sells them to another broker, distributor or reseller. Eventually counterfeit products can become mixed with genuine products, making distinguishing between genuine and counterfeit extremely difficult.
Purchasing IT products through authorized channels or other means of distribution established by the original equipment manufacturer or directly from the manufacturer will greatly increase the enterprise's assurance that they are receiving genuine, new and factory warranted product. Most manufacturers have listings of authorized dealers on their websites.
An article, by Deb Radcliff, appeared on Network World, "Fake network gear: Counterfeit goods have popped up in the channel and could be in your organization." In the article, Radcliff provided several recommendations when buying products. She said, "Because clones and packaging are getting more realistic, many people don't realize they have counterfeit network equipment until it's installed and begins acting quirky. Outages and failures are often the tip-off that the gear is fake."
The following are Radcliff's recommendations to avoid counterfeit products:
