Field Notice Impact Rating
Introducing Field Notice Impact Rating for Enhanced Clarity
Cisco publishes Field Notices to notify customers and partners about significant issues in Cisco products that typically require an upgrade, workaround, or other user action. As part of our ongoing efforts to improve customer experience with our field communications, we are excited to announce that beginning August 1, 2024, Field Notices will be categorized (rated according to expected impact).
The purpose of this categorization system is to give you clearer guidance on the level of urgency for your required actions. There will be four distinct types of Cisco Field Notices: Critical, High, Medium, and Low.
Our goal is to streamline Field Notice communications that may effect you. This added system of categorization enables you to quickly identify the significance of each Field Notice and prioritize potential follow-up actions accordingly.
The following is a brief overview of the four Field Notice categories that apply to all Cisco products, whether they are hardware, software, or "as-a-service" offerings.
Impact Rating
Impact*
Action
Critical
May experience downtime or might be at risk of affecting services
Urgent attention and response
High
May degrade or might have a potential degradation
Attention and response based on deployment scenarios
Medium
May affect system performance or functionality but are less likely to pose an immediate risk to the network
Actions to be taken in due course of time based on deployment scenarios
Low
Unlikely to expect disrupted functionality
Minor in nature and can be addressed as per your convenience
*Impacted Entity - Cisco's product, whether it is hardware, software, or "as-a-service" offering. The details provided here are intended for general guidance purposes only. It is important to note that the actual impact and effectiveness of the information may vary depending on the specific circumstances of your IT environment.
We believe that these categories will make it easier for you to assess and respond to the information that we share. While these categories will allow you to better understand the urgency and relevance of each Field Notice, they are not based on the level of impact to your network.
It is important to be aware that the Field Notice categorization does not adhere to the Security Impact Rating (SIR) system that is used for Security Advisories.
Note that the quality and depth of information that is provided in our Field Notices will remain unchanged. We are committed to maintaining the high standards of our communications so that you can continue to rely on the accuracy and thoroughness of the information that we provide.
Starting August 1, 2024, this change will be in effect for all new Field Notices and for any Revisions made to existing ones from that date onwards, giving you time to familiarize yourself with the new categories. Additional details and guidance will be provided as we approach the implementation date. We appreciate your continued partnership and trust.
Thank you for your attention to this important update. We look forward to serving you with even more clarity and efficiency in the future.
Field Notices are posted to the Product Support pages on www.cisco.com. Notifications are emailed to the users who have opted in to My Notifications, which allows users to customize the notifications they wish to receive.
Note: Field Notices do not contain security vulnerability-related issues. Security vulnerability notifications are addressed by Cisco PSIRT in accordance with the Security Vulnerability Policy. Users can view the latest Cisco security advisories and alerts on our website and can subscribe to one or more notification options.
Frequently Asked Questions
- 1. Do I need to act as per the guidance based on the Field Notice Impact rating?
These categories will make it easier for you to assess and respond to the information that we share. It will also allow you to better understand the urgency and relevance of each Field Notice. These categories may not be based on the level of impact on your network.
- 2. Should I act based on the Field Notice Impact Rating for all Field Notices published?
It is important to note that the actual impact and effectiveness of the information may vary depending on the specific circumstances of your IT environment.
- 3. Will I be able to see the Field Notice Impact for all Field Notices?
Effective August 1, 2024, an Impact Rating will be applied to all new Field Notices and to any revisions to existing Field Notices henceforth.
- 4. How will the introduction of impact ratings improve the clarity and efficiency of Field Notice communications?
This added system of impact rating enables you to quickly identify the significance of each Field Notice and prioritize potential follow-up actions accordingly.
- 5. How should we prepare for the change in the Field Notice system?
We are adding the Field Notice Impact rating to enhance your field notice experience and enable you to take necessary action. The quality and depth of information provided in our Field Notices will remain unchanged.
- 1. Do I need to act as per the guidance based on the Field Notice Impact rating?
- 2. Should I act based on the Field Notice Impact Rating for all Field Notices published?
- 3. Will I be able to see the Field Notice Impact for all Field Notices?
- 4. How will the introduction of impact ratings improve the clarity and efficiency of Field Notice communications?
- 5. How should we prepare for the change in the Field Notice system?
These categories will make it easier for you to assess and respond to the information that we share. It will also allow you to better understand the urgency and relevance of each Field Notice. These categories may not be based on the level of impact on your network.
It is important to note that the actual impact and effectiveness of the information may vary depending on the specific circumstances of your IT environment.
Effective August 1, 2024, an Impact Rating will be applied to all new Field Notices and to any revisions to existing Field Notices henceforth.
This added system of impact rating enables you to quickly identify the significance of each Field Notice and prioritize potential follow-up actions accordingly.
We are adding the Field Notice Impact rating to enhance your field notice experience and enable you to take necessary action. The quality and depth of information provided in our Field Notices will remain unchanged.
Notifications
Get notified when new Field Notices are published via My Notifications.
Specific Campaigns
Cisco products are transitioning from a QuoVadis Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) Certificate Authority (CA) to a CA provided by IdenTrust. (April 2022).
Mexico's IFT implemented nation-wide dial plan changes that may affect some Cisco Unified Communication and Router products (August 2019).
A clock signal component issue can affect certain Cisco security and router products (February 2017).
Some memory components manufactured between 2005 and 2010 can affect certain products (February 2014).