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Biggest Security Hole This Year
This is the biggest security hole discovered so far this year -- word that Cisco routers are open to attack. You got an operating system bug, or something wrong with IE? That's nice -- patch your OS or don't visit certain sites. But if your router is vulnerable? Your network is wide-open.
It's so bad that Cisco canceled a session on hacking router code at a security conference in Las Vegas.
IOS, or the Operating System used in Cisco routers, is the most vulnerable code open to attack today on the internet. Cisco has patched some of the bugs, but not all. And to top it all off, source code for IOS was recently stolen from Cisco.
Lynn decided to speak now, he said, because the source code for Cisco IOS was recently stolen for the second time, and he felt he could no longer remain silent.
"Can anyone think why you would steal (the source code) if not to hack it?" Lynn asked the audience, noting that it took him six months to develop an attack to exploit the bug. "I'm probably about to be sued to oblivion. (But) the worst thing is to keep this stuff secret."
I agree. Keeping the IOS source secret is not in the best interests of Cisco customers. Perhaps ten years ago, this was true, but not any more. Cisco needs to open up the software and move the proprietary stuff down into FPGA and hardware.
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