The more I read about this NSA scandal (and yes, I do consider it a scandal) the less I trust US-based hardware and software companies. There is no reason for anyone to doubt that all Cisco hardware comes with a backdoor. Since such backdoors most likely exist it is a matter of time before hackers discover and exploit them. This has already happened to Microsoft a number of times and there is no reason it could not happen to Cisco. We no longer trust any of our Cisco hardware and have already started researching network alternatives.
This is no longer a crackpot conspiracy theory, it is reality.
In all liklihood we may use a series of firewalls to further insulate our network from intrusion. To keep costs down we may keep our existing Cisco hardware in this topology, but we will not replace it with Cisco hardware when it fails or needs to be upgraded. I am doing the same with my home network.
Over the past few months we have already moved all of our email to secure overseas servers and changed all of our antivirus software from McAfee to AVG and Avast. We are also researching Linux distros to replace Microsoft.
If Cisco wants to protect their brand they need to either take a stand or see their market share continue to erode. Surely there is ONE CEO at an American company that will take this stand and be a hero rather than continue to be a lap dog.