By Ded Ryzing: This is a rather old story that doesn’t seem to go away. It is speculated that Chinese hackers have programmed a backdoor into Cisco gear manufactured in China and destined for the U.S. and other western nations.

It has also been reported that U.S. and Canadian authorities have seized counterfeit Cisco gear coming from China that may contain backdoor code. Here is a quote from an article posted at Slashdot this past February:

“The IDG News Service is reporting that US and Canadian authorities have made more than 400 seizures of counterfeit Cisco hardware from China in an ongoing investigation that started in 2005. The most recent seizure was last Friday in Toronto, where the RCMP charged two people and a company with distributing large quantities of counterfeit network components to companies in the US through the Internet.” MORE

Now, I have not heard or seen any reports that a backdoor has been found or used. Some have argued that because we have yet to find one of these backdoors, they must not exist and this is just a bunch of paranoid conspiracy theory. Well, someone once said, “Just because you deny it doesn’t mean it isn’t true.” Why wouldn’t the chinese put backdoors into products they manufacture for western use? It seems pretty cunning and shrewd to me. And, let’s be honest, I’m sure the U.S. and other western nations would do the same.

One would also have to consider all the little gadgets and gizmos and doohickies that we attach to our computers. The MP3 players, cell phones, cameras, picture frames, printers, etc…all potential spawning grounds for nasties.

Do I think we all need to live in fear? No, not at all. What I would suggest, though, is that we all become a little more cautious, vigilant and critical about data and computer security. After all, everyone could be watching.