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Judge Disconnects Interior Dept., Again

Posted by timothy on from the just-like-texas-justice dept.

jeremycec writes "Evidently, nothing's been resolved since 2001, when this happened the first time. In these Memorandum Opinion and Preliminary Injunction documents from Judge Royce C. Lamberth of the U.S. District Court for Washington, D.C., we see how the court stepped in to pull the plug on a system, which, through its abject lack of due care, left someone's important financial information wide open to attackers. According to the former CIO of the Bureau of Indian Affairs: 'For all practical purposes, we have no security, we have no infrastructure, ... Our entire network has no firewalls on it. I don't like running a network that can be breached by a high school kid.' So, when the BIA could get no relief through Interior's IT Dept., it went to the courts. Source: Government Computer News "

7 of 246 comments (clear)

  1. Are there standards? by KlomDark · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I know the feds have lots of standards (And pretty well thought-out) for bank-related IT security.

    Don't they have some similar standards for government standards, or are all different federal entities left to simply come up (or not come up) with their own standards?

  2. Beyond Lazy by EvilTwinSkippy · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Someone has to be willfully not complying. Hell a firewall is as simple as picking up a $40 router at the local Staples. The instructions are printed in bright colors on droolproof paper.

    There has to be a lot more to this story. Low priority is one thing. This is right up there with willfully not breathing, or willfully not locking a door.

    --
    "Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival."
    --Dr.W.Edwards Deming
  3. Re:This is why.. by prgrmr · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Our government is incapible of becoming like Orwell's 1984. They cant even keep their system straight

    It will be much more like Brazil, with papers and people lost within a system more concerned about avoiding responsibility for screw-ups than actually doing anything productive or benefitial.

  4. Re:BIA IT DEPT DOA by EvilTwinSkippy · · Score: 4, Interesting
    it's true .... my mother in-law works at the BIA, and hasn't had email for years. i've offered to do real cheap contracting to help them set up a small, secure network in their regional office, to no avail. they were still waiting for the gov IT dept to work it out.

    At my office I would up as network admin after a power struggle involving a guy who refused to do much of anything. Systems were so locked down they were useless. A tiny fraction of the building had email, fewer of those actually had the password.

    New network drops? Forget it. Hell, the fund-raising department had its own domain and a dialup line to access email. 2 departments ran their own networks. I was first brought in to try to get them on the Internet, but as soon as folks saw that there was no need for any of the hoop jumping ...

    ... Well, lets just say that person doesn't work here anymore.

    --
    "Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival."
    --Dr.W.Edwards Deming
  5. Mod Parent up! by evenprime · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This is the funniest joke I've seen on slashdot in quite a while. Of course, most /.'ers probably are not familiar with this
    very controversial case.

    --

    "Weapons should be hardy rather than decorative" - Miyamoto Musashi
    I think that goes for OS's too
  6. Re:It's politics, nothing more. by pongo000 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    After traveling through the Jemez Pueblo reservation this summer, and observing first-hand the deplorable conditions they live in, I'm deeply ashamed at the way the government is treating the true founders of this country. The government treats the Native Americans as a public attraction, a curiosity like the rest of the projects the DOI oversees.

    But rest assured, the BIA will never be moved to State under the current administration. Why? Too much of an embarrassment. Very few Americans have seen first-hand how the government treats the Indian tribes, how they foster the rampant crime, poverty, and social ills that plague many reservations. Why would the current administration want to draw attention to their disregard for human decency? Plus, putting the BIA under State would give many Indian tribes the standing they need to pursue their claims against the government for unlawful seizure of their lands. Can you imagine resolving a dispute such as this by returning all 520,000 acres of privately-owned land to their rightful owners, the Kiowa and the Comanche?

    Of course you can't. Neither can the government.

  7. High school kid? by cornice · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I don't like running a network that can be breached by a high school kid.

    I think this statement underestimates the experience, intelect and time that some high school kids have. I have seen countless posts to Slashdot either by people in high school or by people who were doing great things by the time they were in high school. This statement means nothing and somewhat indicates the lack of understanding that the general public has about hackers and crackers.