Question Cat 8 LAN cable's cybersecurity

[BigJajee]

I got Verizon Fios and just retrieved today Cat 8 STP LAN cables I ordered by Amazon. After seeing the country they're made in, I'm starting to have second thoughts. Almost 0 chance that cybersec compromises can happen from just a Cat 8 STP LAN cable alone. Right? I get that higher cat can support higher connection speeds and cybersec can also depend on modem/router and Verizon too. But is it possible there can be something embedded physically in LAN cables to begin with that may pose cyber risks?

 

[Quintessa]

is it possible there can be something embedded physically in LAN cables to begin with that may pose cyber risks?

Theoretically, yes; if someone maliciously embedded active electronics inside the connector or spliced a hardware implant into the cable. But that would be highly visible (bulky ends, powered device, extra components). For consumer-grade LAN cables bought off Amazon, the chance is effectively zero.

Where security risks do exist:

• Cheap/no-name cables sometimes don’t meet spec, which can cause crosstalk, EMI leaks, or dropped packets. That’s a quality problem, not a cyberattack vector.
• “Smart cables” with active repeaters or adapters (like USB-C > Ethernet dongles) could theoretically be tampered with since they have microcontrollers. Plain Cat 8 patch cables don't.

So, your Cat 8 STP is safe. Focus on router firmware, modem, and endpoint device security; those are where attackers actually get in. If you want a sanity check: cut one open. You'll find 4 shielded twisted pairs and drain wire, nothing else.

 

[Fallen Kell]

Also the cable is not a good place for such a device/attack. The first issue would be the cost involved and the expected value return on hitting random purchasers of cables from Amazon. The second is that for the most part, a cable attack like this would in theory be detectable by proper edge router/firewall systems or require the attacker who made those cables to get within wireless signal distance (wifi/bluetooth, etc) of the cable to ex-filtrate information from the cable, as if it used the network connectivity it itself provides in an attempt to communicated with command/control systems, it's traffic could be intercepted by the router/firewalls and possibly logged and/or blocked.

 

[sdifox]

LoL no.

 

[kennethrc]

After seeing the country 90% of the electronics in my house was made in

FTFY

 

[aigomorla]

LoL no.

i dont think they understand the fact you went lol, is because cat8 cables technically do not even exist. And if it did, the cables would be so thick, that the rj45 jack would need to be redesigned.

Hence why most are SCAMS, unless that cable is stupidly expensive because of the special RJ45 head.

 

[sdifox]

i dont think they understand the fact you went lol, is because cat8 cables technically do not even exist. And if it did, the cables would be so thick, that the rj45 jack would need to be redesigned.

Hence why most are SCAMS, unless that cable is stupidly expensive because of the special RJ45 head.

There is no use for it at home, meanwhile researchers achieved 255Tbps with one strand of fibre, in 2014.

255Tbps: World's fastest network could carry all of the internet's traffic on a single fiber

A joint group of researchers from the Netherlands and the US have smashed the world speed record for a fiber network, pushing 255 terabits per second down a single strand of glass fiber. This is equivalent to around 32 terabytes per second -- enough to transfer a 1GB movie in two milliseconds...

www.extremetech.com