Better Health for All

F5 Networks' application security and delivery solutions are strategically applied in the healthcare sector. These solutions enhance the performance and security of healthcare applications, facilitating secure telehealth services, remote patient monitoring, and AI-driven diagnostics, thereby expanding healthcare access and improving patient outcomes.

F5's technologies protect healthcare data, including Protected Health Information (PHI), against breaches, prevent fraud, and minimize disruptions to patient care. They are deployed in 12 of the top 20 U.S. hospitals, mitigating approximately 1 billion automated attacks daily and safeguarding 150 million legitimate logins each day. F5 also collaborated with the First Nations Health Authority to build secure healthcare IT infrastructures. In May 2022, F5 promptly released a patch for a significant software vulnerability (CVE-2022-1388) in its BIG-IP software. The company's products do not have direct health impacts, carry health risks, or have addiction potential. F5 does not offer health-related products requiring price accessibility, engage in preventative health, healthcare workforce support, health education, or clinical trials.

Fair Money & Economic Opportunity

F5 Networks Inc, a provider of multicloud application security and delivery solutions, does not engage in direct financial services such as lending or banking.

The company's core business focuses on serving large enterprises with application security and delivery solutions. Consequently, its operations do not directly align with the metrics for fair money and economic opportunity, which are designed for financial institutions involved in equitable financial services, microfinancing, and consumer lending.

Fair Pay & Worker Respect

As of April 2022, 88% of employees stated that F5 is a great place to work, significantly higher than 57% at a typical U.S.-based company.

The company conducts bi-annual employee engagement surveys, with June 2023 results showing 83% of employees proud to work for F5, 87% agreeing they are treated equally and fairly, and 80% rating F5 as having a great culture. However, the sense of belonging score decreased from 84% in 2022 to 76% in 2023, attributed to organizational changes.

Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing

No specific, quantifiable evidence was found in the provided articles to assess F5 Networks Inc against the defined KPIs for Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing. While the company demonstrates efforts in conflict minerals due diligence, including a Conflict Minerals Policy, supplier engagement for reporting templates (91% in 2023

, 80% in 2022 ), and a grievance mechanism , the articles do not provide data points such as the percentage of spend covered by fair-trade certifications, average audit frequency for suppliers, number of substantiated forced or child labor incidents, percentage of multi-tier traceability coverage, median remediation speed, percentage of contracts with ethical clauses, share of spend on high-risk materials, or procurement budget directed to diverse suppliers.

Honest & Fair Business

No specific, quantitative evidence was provided in the article to assess F5 Networks Inc against the defined KPIs for Honest & Fair Business. The article mentions general ESG commitments and board oversight of ESG strategies

, as well as allegations against hiring practices and intellectual property disputes , but lacks concrete data points such as regulatory fine amounts, transparency index scores, details on whistleblower policies, financial restatements, audit coverage, specific controversy scores, complaint resolution times, board independence percentages, anti-corruption policy details, or third-party verification of ethical claims.

No War, No Weapons

F5 Networks Inc. specializes in application security and delivery solutions, providing software-based products such as cybersecurity software, IT infrastructure, and BIG-IP software. These products are not controversial or banned weapons. The company has established contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), Air Force, and Army for these software products and support. Specific agreements include a DoD Enterprise Software Initiative Blanket Purchase Agreement effective through September 2027

, an Air Force contract valued at approximately $5 million in 2023 , and Army contracts totaling $50,500 in April 2019 . The acquisition of Defense.Net in 2014 , specializing in DDoS protection, expanded F5's security offerings, making them attractive to defense sectors.

Planet-Friendly Business

F5, Inc. has committed to science-based targets, verified by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), to reduce absolute Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 50% and Scope 3 emissions by 43% from a 2021 baseline by 2030.

These targets are aligned with a 1.5°C trajectory.

Respect for Cultures & Communities

F5 Networks has no reported cultural appropriation incidents, nor have its operations caused any disruptions to cultural or heritage sites. The company's business model, focused on application security and delivery solutions, generally does not involve direct impacts on cultural contexts, thus rendering several related protocols and processes not applicable. In 2021, F5 awarded a $10,000 Tech for Good Grant to Cultural Survival, a nonprofit advocating for Indigenous Peoples' rights globally

. This grant facilitated the redevelopment of Cultural Survival's website, enhancing accessibility and outreach to Indigenous communities, including Spanish-speaking users, and providing resources on Indigenous rights, cultural preservation, and self-determination . Additionally, F5's Global Good program, established in 2018, focuses on community support, STEM education, and technological assistance for nonprofits , with F5 and its employees donating over $4.6 million to more than 3,000 nonprofit organizations worldwide in fiscal year 2022, supporting community engagement and local traditions .

Safe & Smart Tech

F5 demonstrates a commitment to ethical AI and data protection.

The company partnered to introduce an AI Firewall that offers real-time protection for generative AI applications, blocking undesired responses like toxicity and bias, and maintaining compliance with MITRE and NIST standards. F5's privacy principles emphasize privacy by design and data minimization. The company also advocates for systemic solutions, including governmental policy and advanced security technologies, to protect user data. F5 introduced tools that allow software teams to scan APIs for vulnerabilities before deployment. However, threat actors exploited unencrypted persistent cookies in F5's BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager, and two vulnerabilities in the BIG-IP platform were exploited by attackers, highlighting issues with encryption implementation and timely vulnerability management.

Zero Waste & Sustainable Products

F5 Networks Inc., primarily focused on software and cloud services, is noted to have a lower direct physical waste footprint compared to hardware-centric businesses.

The company's environmental considerations include e-waste from any hardware components. The broader tech industry is adopting sustainable practices, including recycling programs for electronic components.