Cryptic US Strategic Command tweet reveals dangers of working from home with kids in the way

A cryptic message sent from the Twitter account of the US Strategic Command, then deleted, could have been many things. It read: ;l;;gmlxzssaw Was it a coded message sent in plain sight? Was it a password to the systems used to control and fire America’s nukes that was copy-pasted in the wrong place? It was posted on a …

[The Aussie Paradox]

Trigger warning in 3..2...1

If someone says this child "hacked" his account by picking up the unlocked device and typing random stuff will trigger me and I will go nuclear.

See what I did there?

[jake]

Re: Trigger warning in 3..2...1

Makes me wonder what the official was thinking, leaving something like that logged in where a kid (or commie spy, if such a thing still exists) can get access to it.

This is the epitome of why BYOD ("Break Your Own Defenses") is a really, really bad idea when it comes to corporate national security.

[Mage]

Re: Trigger warning in 3..2...1

Twitter is now part of USA National Security?

Do they launch ICBMs by coded tweet?

[jake]

Re: Trigger warning in 3..2...1

No. But you might be surprised by what somebody good at Social Engineering could do with his hands on an actual US Strategic Command account. It's not just a foot in the door, it's an entire leg.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Trigger warning in 3..2...1

Twitter is the official mouthpiece for the USA Government since some president spent his whole term of office governing through Twitter...

[jake]

Re: Trigger warning in 3..2...1

Was. That particular idiot-in-chief was told to bugger off.

[HammerOn1024]

Re: Trigger warning in 3..2...1

You all do realize that the Internet and the Strategic Defense Network are not wire together... right?

So stand down all ye Chicken Little's.

Other than a chewing out for proper account locking when stepping away, there's nothing to see here.

[jake]

Re: Trigger warning in 3..2...1

"You all do realize that the Internet and the Strategic Defense Network are not wire together... right?"

Wrong. The wire is grey matter between the ears of the dude/ttes on either side of the tweet. Look up the meaning of Social Engineering.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Trigger warning in 3..2...1

The nuclear codes are safe. That cat has half the code, the dog the other half.

[jake]

So ";l;;gmlxzssaw" is a child, eh?

What does that make "Despite the constant negative press covfefe"?

The onset of senility would be my guess ...

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Re: So ";l;;gmlxzssaw" is a child, eh?

Sounds like the sort of thing Skynet would say

[Fruit and Nutcase]

Re: So ";l;;gmlxzssaw" is a child, eh?

gesundheit?

[Fruit and Nutcase]

Re: So ";l;;gmlxzssaw" is a child, eh?

It was Tweety Pie typing out a rushed message

";l;;gmlxzssaw"

What he intended to type was of course, "I tawt I taw a puddy tat!", but the aforementioned puddy tat was closing in.

PS

Mrs Slocombe has just informed me telephonically that her pussy has been self isolating and with the easing of lockdown restrictions is looking forward to getting around the neighbourhood again

[jake]

Re: So ";l;;gmlxzssaw" is a child, eh?

I thought the Idjit "Tweety" Pai quit before he got fired? What was he doing messing around with an account owned by the US Strategic Command at this point in the game?

[WhereAmI?]

Re: So ";l;;gmlxzssaw" is a child, eh?

Upvoted for the "Are You Being Served?" reference. A definately not-PC program in this day and age but bloody hilarious even now.

[Jamie Jones]

Re: So ";l;;gmlxzssaw" is a child, eh?

As an nieve but learning teenager, I chuckled at all those pussy references, and was sure that the posh Mollie Sugden would freak if she knew about the double entendre!

[jake]

Re: So ";l;;gmlxzssaw" is a child, eh?

Aye. T'posh lass ... from Keighley.

_{From what I understand, Mollie invented the Pussy character herself ...}

[Fruit and Nutcase]

Re: So ";l;;gmlxzssaw" is a child, eh?

PPS

This lockdown appears to be frustrating pussies in neighbourhoods across the country - Samantha just called and asked to give her a hand helping her find pussy which had bolted out the flap after being cooped up for weeks - Apparently, Sven couldn't come

[stiine]

Re: So ";l;;gmlxzssaw" is a child, eh?

sounds like samsung auto-correct to me.

[jake]

Re: So ";l;;gmlxzssaw" is a child, eh?

Can't be auto-correct. It makes too much sense.

[Ordinary Donkey]

Re: So ";l;;gmlxzssaw" is a child, eh?

It makes it being careless when you put your phone down mid-tweet.

But somehow people still talk about it more than three years later.

[RM Myers]

Twitter manager for the US Strategic Command???

Why the hell do you need a twitter manager for the US Strategic Command.

We're doomed.

[You aint sin me, roit]

It's a trap!

Who would follow the Twitter feed? Spies, that's who.

That tweet was obviously a password "typed into the wrong window" ;)

Now they sit back and see who tries to use it...

[stiine]

Re: It's a trap!

can't be a password, it only has to character classs.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Twitter manager for the US Strategic Command???

"The end of the world start in 15 minutes. Have a nice day"

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Twitter manager for the US Strategic Command???

mind you, if there's a manager, there's an assistant. And and large pool of minions, analysts, press office, press officer's assistant's press officer, etc.

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Re: Twitter manager for the US Strategic Command???

US Space Command Twitter force - the 401st Special Twittering Wing,

Their logo is a giant pair of thumbs.

[amanfromMars 1]

SMARTR Mentoring of Monitoring is the Answer that Solves Dumb Strategic Command Problems

:-) Ok ..... if the cryptic USSTRATCOM lesson to learn and accept is Kids can't be trusted does I Kid U Not offer them and their ilk clear cold comfort and deliver any red hot problems to enjoy and enjoin/entertain and employ?

Whenever nothing is as it seems, what are we to make of simple explanations? Such is the legacy and result of systems of administration pumping and dumping 24/7/365 massive webs of half truths and certified lies. Everything is catastrophically vulnerable to easily being broken and overtaken and taken over and smashed to smithereens. And aint that the gospel truth. I Kid U Not. :-)

[Doctor Syntax]

Go on, admit it. It was sent from the phone in your back pocket when you sat down.

[Anonymous Coward]

Apologizes, apologises

noun, plural, simples, no? :)

alternatively: [expletive] apologises for any confusion :)

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Apologizes, apologises

Apologies, plural noun.

Apologizes, third person present verb. Ex. The errant parent apologizes for leaving their computer unlocked.

[FlavioStanchina]

Maybe it's Trump's Twitter passw... oh, wait.

[Pascal Monett]

"a password to the systems used to control and fire America’s nukes"

Nonsense. Everybody knows that that password is 0000.

[John70]

Re: "a password to the systems used to control and fire America’s nukes"

Was changed to 1234

[Zarno]

Re: "a password to the systems used to control and fire America’s nukes"

"That's amazing! I've got the same combination on my luggage! "

[The Man Who Fell To Earth]

Re: "a password to the systems used to control and fire America’s nukes"

It's "password".

[ThatOne]

Re: "a password to the systems used to control and fire America’s nukes"

It's "badaboom".

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Re: "a password to the systems used to control and fire America’s nukes"

The password really was 000000

[IGotOut]

Hmmm

Greetings Professor Falken.

[a_yank_lurker]

Kids - Amateurs

Now if you really want to have a mess let your cats at the keyboard. They do not care if you are using it when they walk over it.

[G R Goslin]

Move along, nothing to see...

I'd tend to agree with the official account. . It's all in lower case, and the keystrokes tend to occupy left and right sides of the keyboard. so, no shift keying, , and a plink, plonk distribution. Ever whatched a child beating on a toy drum?

[Anonymous Coward]

call_init

cryi i cry cry

gamma lex zero sum still at wire

site is down::

server scks

https://youtu.be/g-kl8La6-rU

yello - heavy whispers

(ultralow freq)

[Blackjack]

The real lesson is "Adults can't be trusted to not leave their digital devices open for anyone to tamper with."

Had the computer been password protected , even if by screensaver, nothing would have happened.