50 Shades Darker: The Dangers of a Grey Market

In an era where IT solutions are a necessity, it’s not uncommon for businesses to opt for the cheapest products to maximise their budget. This often leads buyers to the grey market; an area which although often not technically illegal doesn’t operate under the same reputation and authorisation as other sanctioned retail channels. The grey market can simply refer to legitimate products where the chain of supply is blurred however, on the darker end of the spectrum you have products that are counterfeit, or even stolen, being sold for profit.

Although Cisco’s brand protection team work tirelessly to protect their customers from the more prolific producers of inauthentic technology, some will inevitably slip through the cracks – leaving it up to the consumer to deduce which products are priced as ‘too good to be true’.

Paying for Quality

Seemingly budget-friendly solutions to IT problems may appear to be a great way to maximise budget, but the pitfalls of grey market products far outweigh the financial gain of purchasing a cheaper product, especially when Cisco themselves offer budget-friendly alternatives to a wide variety of their hardware solutions.

In July 2020, cyber security provider F-Secure published a report providing insight into their investigation of a pair of counterfeit switches unknowingly purchased from the grey market. The inquiry concluded that the two Cisco Catalyst 2960-X switches were specifically designed to bypass an important authentication process, which then posed several questions surrounding their security.

Thankfully in this instance the switches didn’t appear to have any backdoor functionality and did not present a direct threat to security however, this is not always the case.

Dmitry Janushkevich, a senior consultant with F-Secure, explained that “the counterfeiters’ motives were likely limited to making money by selling the components. But we see motivated attackers use the same kind of approach to stealthily backdoor companies, which is why it’s important to thoroughly check any modified hardware.”

Same Cisco Quality for a Fraction of the Price

For those looking to maximise their budget and actively avoid the dangers involved with grey market purchases, look no further than Cisco Refresh.

Cisco refresh offers the same cisco quality for a fraction of the price, whilst using an environmentally friendly remanufacturing process to reduce e-waste and decrease your businesses carbon footprint.

At Chulo we are a proud retailer of the Cisco Refresh remanufacturing programme, offering sustainable solutions to the growing demand for technology. From phones to switches, we have an environmentally conscious product for any office situation. Remanufactured technology is not only good for the environment but also great for your budget, with up to 70% savings whilst maintaining the same Cisco quality and warranty.

As a certified Cisco retailer, we offer authorised refurbished and remanufactured Cisco products that have been thoroughly tested by a team of Cisco experts, ensuring device and network safety and operating under the Cisco Refresh warranty.

Make the most of your IT budget, shop Chulo’s Cisco Refresh range today or get in touch with a Chulo specialist for more information