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FBI Finds Counterfeit Chips Leave U.S. Military Vulnerable

by Will Safer on May 12, 2008 at 11:39 AM

fbiThe U.S. Military may have been using a whole slew of counterfeit computer chips in its systems, leaving it open to security breaches that could lead to information leaks or worse, according to the FBI.

During a two-year period, Operation Cisco Raider has lead to 15 criminal cases in which counterfeit products were bought and used by military agencies, military contractors and electric power companies. According to the New York Times, "36 search warrants have been executed, resulting in the discovery of 3,500 counterfeit Cisco network components with an estimated retail value of more than $3.5 million, the F.B.I. said in a statement."

Part of an FBI briefing on the investigation and its findings can be found in this PowerPoint presentation hosted by the site Above Top Secret.

The counterfeit chips could lead to some interesting security holes. For one, they are extremely hard to sort out from real chips. Two, the kind of security weakness they have could lead to computers being taken over by a remote system. The article states that there has been speculation about anti-aircraft systems being disabled during the first Gulf War and also when the Israeli air force has attacked a suspected Syrian nuclear power plant.

The FBI isn't saying the counterfeit chips were specifically designed to leave systems vulnerable. There's a chance the chip makers just wanted to make some quick money on a high volume product. And (surprise) the chips seem to have come from China.

But the U.S. Military isn't just taking this lying down. The Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (or DARPA) has initiated a Trusted Integrated Circuits program with the aim of strengthening the country's defense against network security breaches.

This sounds like a good idea to us, as long as they don't call their new system Skynet. [Source: The New York Times]

Tags: Cisco, crime, FBI, security

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