Cisco Moves to Strengthen Security Defaults After Repeated Nation-State Exploits

Cisco has announced a major push to harden the security of its network equipment after years of high-profile breaches linked to Chinese nation-state threat actors exploiting misconfigurations and known vulnerabilities in its devices. The company says its new initiative, “Resilient Infrastructure,” will make secure settings the default and warn customers more aggressively when unsafe configurations are detected.

Cisco equipment has frequently been cited in government and industry post-mortems as a key entry point in cyberattacks targeting telecom operators and critical infrastructure. Although many incidents stemmed from unpatched flaws or insecure setups already documented by Cisco, the company acknowledges that its devices have served as common attack pathways in multiple campaigns over the past two years.

In a blog post, Cisco’s Chief Security and Trust Officer Anthony Grieco said customers will begin receiving proactive alerts whenever their configurations expose them to risk. Initially, these warnings will serve as guidance, but upcoming software releases will disable insecure protocols and features by default. Eventually, Cisco plans to remove high-risk options entirely.

The announcement was paired with a new Cisco report highlighting the global dangers of running outdated or unsupported network hardware. According to the findings, nearly 50% of global IT infrastructure is aging or obsolete, and almost two-thirds of cyber breaches in Europe are linked to known vulnerabilities left unpatched. Nations including the U.K., U.S., Germany, and France still rely heavily on end-of-life devices in critical environments, amplifying exposure to advanced threats.

Healthcare infrastructure, in particular, was identified as one of the most at-risk sectors across all regions surveyed.

Cisco’s stronger stance underscores a broader industry shift toward secure-by-default networking—critical as nation-state attacks intensify and legacy infrastructure continues to strain under rising cybersecurity pressures.