Standing Firm in Support of the People of Ukraine

Like most of the global community, we are witnessing the intensifying war on Ukraine with a mixture of shock, grief, and anger. Our hearts go out to the people facing the invasion of their homeland, separation from loved ones, and displacement from the land they love. While world governments determine how to respond to this act of aggression, those of us in the business sphere must address the war on Ukraine as not just a commercial concern, but as a moral imperative.

We at F5 stand firmly in support of the people of Ukraine and their rights as a sovereign democratic nation. Turning our emotions into resolve, we are spurred to action. Since the initial attack, we have looked closely at every part of our business in seeking ways to provide a supportive response.

Supporting Employees

F5 has a global workforce and the wellbeing of our employees and contractors is a top priority. Among F5, those impacted most by this attack have been our teammates in Ukraine who now fear for their physical safety. We are focused on ensuring that each of these individuals is accounted for and that we maintain direct, continual contact with each one to support their safety and welfare. This includes personalized attention from our regional HR teams, often working in partnership with local specialists, to provide comprehensive guidance and support for them and their families. For Ukrainian staff outside the country who may need to attend to loved ones, we are providing an optional leave of absence so they can focus on what matters most.

A crisis of this nature has a rippling effect across the region and the world. We recognize the impact felt not just by Ukrainians and Russians, but by everyone with family, friends, and colleagues in the region, as well as in adjacent areas just beginning to be affected. We are closely tracking the fluid circumstances across the region and beyond to ensure that our support adapts to evolving employee needs, including the call from employees around the world seeking ways to express their support.

Protecting our Customers, Services, and Operations

As a global security company, F5 understands the high degree of trust placed in us by customers and partners. We had preparations in place prior to the escalation and have acted early and thoroughly to safeguard all operations and fully comply with government mandates and economic sanctions.

We have suspended all sales activity in Russia and are routing customer support cases through other locations. We have removed F5 network access and halted contributions to NGINX open-source projects in Russia; this work will continue in other global locations. No code, either commercial or open source, is located in Russia. We remain dedicated to the development of NGINX and growing its community, as well as protecting the wellbeing of our people in Russia.

In the face of fast-changing circumstances, we are diligently monitoring the situation and assessing all of our systems on a constant basis. We assure our customers and partners that they can maintain the highest level of confidence in our products, services, and operations.

Providing Heightened Protections and Aid

At this time of heightened threats, we are hearing from customers seeking an extra level of guidance and protection. For customers and others impacted by this crisis, we are proactively sharing our expertise as a security provider. This includes providing services as well as supplemental direction on hardening their security posture to the greatest extent possible. For customers under active attack requiring immediate aid, the F5 Security Incident Response Team (SIRT) provides 24/7 emergency services; contact info is listed further below.

Our F5 community has rallied in multiple ways to assist the Ukrainian people. In Poland and other affected regions, F5 employees have opened their hearts and their homes to refugees in need. F5ers have spontaneously initiated crowdsourcing projects and are investing their expertise, money, and many hours each week in a range of efforts, including food aid programs, legal assistance efforts, and UN projects to build online resources.

At the corporate level, F5 has partnered with International SOS to provide complimentary access to mental health counselors for our employees/contractors and their families located in Ukraine and Russia. The F5 giving campaign provides a company match for employee donations to Ukrainian disaster aid and humanitarian relief efforts; in just over 3 weeks, it has raised more than $118,000 USD to become one of our largest and most active fundraising efforts ever. 

F5 is a company committed to human-first values. We have been moved by the bravery and passion of the Ukrainians in defending their homeland and encouraged by the solidarity the world has shown for their cause. We are committed to continually evaluating our response to best support the people of Ukraine and their future as a free and sovereign nation. That is consistent with the values that we hold and with our obligations as global citizens in a connected world.

François Locoh-Donou
CEO, F5

For immediate help on security vulnerabilities from the F5 SIRT: (888) 882-7535; outside North America, call 800-11-275-435; online.