Cisco Source Code Reportedly Stolen:
"According to a Russian security Web site, criminal hackers broke into Cisco Systems' corporate network last week and stole 800MB of source code for IOS 12.3 and 12.3t (an early deployment version of the operating system containing features not found in the vanilla 12.3 version). In addition, a 2.5MB sample of what is supposedly IOS code was released on an Internet Relay Chat channel as proof of the alleged theft.

'Cisco is aware that a potential compromise of its proprietary information occurred and was reported on a public website just prior to the weekend,' said Cisco spokesman Robert Barlow. 'Cisco is fully investigating what happened. As a matter of policy, we take security very seriously and we continue to take every measure to protect our intellectual property, employee and customer information.' "

IOS 12.3 is the newest main version of San Jose, Calif.-based Cisco's popular operating system. It's used across the company's networking line, including in home office routers (the 800 Series); those for branch offices (the 3700 Series); and those that comprise the Internet backbone (the 7000 Series). Other routers that use the operating system include the 1700, 2500, 2600 and 3600 Series.

This could represent a major security threat not just for Cisco users, but for the entire Internet. According to the Dell'Oro Group, a market research firm that specializes in the networking and telecommunications industries, Cisco owns 62 percent of the core router market.…

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1594322,00.asp