Re: NSA able to compromise Cisco, Juniper, Huawei switches

["Dobbins, Roland" <rdobbins () arbor net>]

On Dec 31, 2013, at 11:06 AM, [AP] NANOG <nanog () armoredpackets com> wrote:

> Then looking at things from the evil side though, if they owned the system which provides the signing then they could 
> sign
> virtually anything they wish.

Or if they owned *people* with the right level of access to do so, or if there were implementation bugs which could be 
utilized to bypass or obviate the signing . . .

None of the alleged capabilities described in the purported documents is really standalone; they all rely upon other 
methods/mechanisms in order to provide the required foundation to accomplish their stated goals.

> I think we need to watch and listen/read over the coming weeks and months before we go assuming we have it figured 
> out.

This is the most pertinent and insightful comment made in this thread.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Roland Dobbins <rdobbins () arbor net> // <http://www.arbornetworks.com>

          Luck is the residue of opportunity and design.

                       -- John Milton