Hackers Offer To Sell Cisco Firewall Source Code

A group describing itself as the Source Code Club (SCC) has offered to sell source code for Cisco's Pix proprietary security firewall software to any taker for $24,000. In a note posted on a Usenet newsgroup, the group also said that it would also make available other, unnamed source code to those who paid.

In a note posted to the alt.gaps.international.sales newsgroup, the Source Code Club wrote, "SCC is proud to announce the general availability of Cisco Pix 6.3.1 source code. This release is significant because pix is vital to the security of many ultra-secure networks."

The group is selling Version 6.3.1 of the firewall. A newer version, 6.3.4, was released by Cisco in July, and is not being sold by the group.

Previously, the group has posted public messages offering to sell Enterasys Networks' Dragon intrusion detection system and Napster's client and server software, and is still offering them both for sale. It is charging $19,200 for the Enterasys software, and $12,000 for the Napster software.

Those interested in buying software from the company have to do so in a complex transaction that requires the use of email, PGP keys, and an electronic currency site, www.e-gold.com, that purports to use gold as a means of exchange. The transaction is designed to ensure that both buyer and seller remain anonymous.In the newsgroup message, the Source Code Club says that it was formed early in 2004 "in order to fill a void in the corporate world. Until now, it was nearly impossible for companies to reliably gather intel on their competitors. SCC can deliver timely and accurate data to meet your companies' needs."

This is not the first time that Cisco's source code has been leaked. In May, proprietary source code for Cisco's hardware was made available online.