FBI to Probe Possible Theft of Cisco Code

The FBI has opened an investigation into possible theft of source code from networking equipment maker Cisco Systems Inc., the agency said.

An FBI spokesman said Cisco asked the bureau to look into the matter, but he declined to discuss the case further.

Cisco said Monday that it was looking into reports that some of the software code used to run its gear that directs Internet traffic might have been stolen. The company did not say whether any of its code was actually stolen.

Source code, the underlying blueprint of computer software, determines how programs work.