Obama chopper plans leaked on file-sharing nets Confidential blueprints and specifications for the planned new US presidential helicopters have been accidentally leaked to the torrents by download-hungry defence contractors, according to reports. WPXI News reported at the weekend on findings by Pennsylvania security firm Tiversa, tagline: "The P2P Intelligence Experts - Do …
There's no way in a hell a machine with access to that kind of information should have been reachable from the internet anyway. Even a home user knows how to operate a basic firewall.. clearly government contractors aren't required to even have this knowledge. IT should have detected the software on that machine (and asked questions on how the hell it got there in the first place) and preemtively fired the person that installed it *long* before it got to this stage.
They aren't even starting to get any better... one person 'may' lose their job? What the hell? How about lockheed lose all government contracts until they can prove they know how to handle sensitive documents.
“Once it's out there, it's hard to get it back," added the former NATO supreme commander. "I don't think the full ramifications of this have been understood by the watchdog agencies.”
That's funny, 'cos I always have IT security bods telling me security through obscurity is a lame idea!
All classified documents and files are strictly controlled. Those machines are not on the internet. Mechanical engineers designing at their desk working on parts or documents that are not subject to classification are connected to the internet (so we can read the register while things compile). These documents are still sensitive though and any idiot that installs file sharring software should get 50 lashes.
Am I the only one to smell a rat here.. Presumably once files are swarming their way about on the P2P networks they are almost everywhere - interesting that they chose to highlight Iran of all the countries where presumably the files ended up - I'll lay a pint on the odds that they ended up in Moscow too, but no mention of that, eh? Dammit with those fast internet connections those pesky Persians could potentially upload this Weapon of Mass Download to Europe in 45 minutes.. Generals, we have that excuse we've been looking for...!
is "seed" the internet and all the file sharing programs with deliberate disinformation.
We have historical precedent - "Aurora" - supersecret Mach 7 spyplane, powered by dilithium hydroxide, range 15,000 miles at 150,000 feet, invisible to radar, hoo-hah!
Except it never existed other than as a spoof to get the Russians to spend LOTS of money trying to duplicate the non-existent (and impossible) technology - and they took the bait, hook, line and sinker and actually got to the cutting metal stage on an aircraft that couldn't be built . . .
Just suppose that these plans that were "leaked" are the same thing . . . Iran will spend lots of money and time trying to attack/defeat non-existent threats, which will distract them from the REAL threats.
Either that, or the leaker shouldn't be imprisoned, he should be shot for treason.
...the university I work in IT support at doesn't allow P2P software on academic's office PCs (which can potentially contain millions of dollars worth of pre-patent data). I am forwarding this article link to my boss as yet another thing to show the "I wanna do what I wanna do on 'my' PC (no, it is the university's PC) because I have PhDs (in non-IT fields)" brigade. Not that they will believe THEY could ever be so dumb.
Note: the vast majority of academics here just want to do their research/teaching and are quite eager to have someone else do all the tedious mucking around to keep their PC working and virus-free, but some self-styled 'experts' are just a PITA. You can be very brilliant in one field and a complete nonce outside of it.
>> Hum ... now where did I save the Nuke warhead blueprints? Better ring up the server in Tehran to track down where my files are stored.
You are late to the party. Well-informed rumor has it that the nuke crap has already been sold off to at least Turkey by a level "really not too far below POTUS" for quick cash & hookers from the Clinton administration onwards.
Don't worry, take my word there are plenty of complete nonces with good IT knowledge who still think their work PC is "their PC" and install all types of insecure applications on them, and still think their IT department telling them not to is a PITA. My fave was the security insultant who brought a laptop onsite with a freeware FTP server installed, which just happened to include a rather nasty worm.
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