Complete blocking of network devices: Cisco introduces new sanctions for the Russian Federation and Belarus
The cloud provider has temporarily lifted the restrictions to soon calculate and disable its devices from geolocation.
The Meraki Cisco company decided to disconnect all network devices located in Russia and Belarus from cloud services from December 21. Russian clients who received a letter from the service provider told the ‘Habr’ portal about this.
Meraki temporarily restored Russians’ access to cloud services, but warned that it will begin to disconnect devices from Russia and Belarus, calculating their location by geolocation. Already next week, users from these countries will not be able to see the equipment in their personal accounts, and routers and access points configured to work in the cloud will be blocked on the company’s servers and firmware updates will stop being sent to them. As Meraki emphasized, it fulfills the requirements of the US legislation together with its parent company, one of the largest suppliers of Cisco network equipment.
In October, Russian systems engineer Viktor Platov reported that IT company Meraki, bought by Cisco in 2012, had disconnected Russian customers from cloud services. On November 5, user Habr with the nickname Gryphonv demonstrated that the company had remotely locked down its devices (access points) and created a private network where the equipment was signed like ‘12345-Sanctions’, only with different numbers for each device. Any user could gain access to these devices. Meraki not only took control of them, but also removed them from their accounts on its services and demanded the return of the equipment without any compensation from the manufacturer.
In November, Gryphonv and another user with the nickname Edward (@edtlt) tried various methods to get the Meraki access point and router up and running. It was possible to connect the access point using an additional router with a built-in VPN and a European IP, and then enter the control panel of the cloud service, but this trick did not work with the router.
On December 8, Edward received a letter from Meraki, after which the access point went live again. It is not known why Meraki suddenly eased the restrictions. Perhaps the company is trying to understand how the Russians bypass them in order to ‘cut off’ alternative methods of connection.
Earlier there was information that Cisco may resume the supply of communication equipment to Russia. According to sources, the American company lost hundreds of millions of dollars due to the withdrawal from the Russian market.
But after the departure of Cisco and other technology companies, life in Russia will not stop. As telecom expert Roman Khimich explained, foreign companies cannot completely prevent the operation of equipment in the aggressor country.
