US Military Bases Unknowingly Used Fake Cisco Gear - A Warning on Counterfeit Electronics

Rzmarketeer.blogspot Tech News Onur Aksoy sold tens of thousands of counterfeit Cisco products on Amazon, eBay, and direct sales through his store known as Pro Network Entities. Goods sold since 2013 would have amounted to over $1 billion in legitimate sales. Some of the vendors sold to included the US Air Force, Army and Navy. He has been sentenced to 78 months of prison time, $100 million dollars in restitution to Cisco, and a $40,000 fine.

Quotes

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                    The US military used gear purchased from Aksoy's scheme, which jeopardized sensitive applications, including support platforms for US fighter jets and other types of military aircraft, per government officials. 

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                    The indictment said that some fraudulent devices were real Cisco products that were "typically older, lower-model, or less expensive Cisco products, some of which had been sold or discarded" but were modified to appear newer or like a higher-grade model. Tactics included pirated software and modding the hardware with "unauthorized, low-quality, and unreliable components," including ones meant to circumnavigate methods for checking for software license compliance in order to authenticate the device.


    My thoughts
                            Why is the US government buying Cisco products from Amazon, eBay, or unauthorized sources? I've got some acquaintances who have worked in the military, and there is so much regulation on what they can / can't use. I have to imagine there are regulations on what can be bought where. I'm sure everyone has been tempted by a deal that is too good to be true. Having this "new" equipment discounted by up to 88% should be a red flag to anyone.

    It's crazy this scam went on for nearly 10 years. I wonder what it took to actually arrest the guy as it seems that Cisco and the DOJ knew of the scam very early on. Funny how the DoJ knew, but the DoD didn't. Looking around, this wasn't even the first time the US military had purchased fake Cisco equipment (2008, 
https://www.zdnet.com/article/cisco-partners-sell-fake-routers-to-us-military/)
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I do like how he hacked these devices to remove subscription lockouts. I just wished he would have used his abilities for good, allowing more devices to be repaired instead of thrown away due to software locks.

Sources

    https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/05/counterfeit-cisco-gear-ended-up-in-us-military-bases-used-in-combat-operations/