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DOD Kicks Up Cybersecurity Efforts
codingOgre writes "The US Army will try to secure an entire computer network against a team led by the NSA. They are cadets at West Point competing against military academies and other schools in a four-day Cyber Defense Exercise this week. I would have to think that this would be a lot of fun! I would like to see what the NSA and friends could throw at my network, although one would think they wouldn't reveal all their cards...like the backdoor into any Windows box :)" In a related story, jkinney3 writes: "The feds are wising up to the needs for a verifiable, secure code base for all of the DOD stuff, according to Government Computing News. A proposed solution 'would create a single executive organization responsible for software integrity and information assurance.' Joe Jarzombek, deputy director for software assurance in DOD's Information Assurance Directorate, said 'DOD possesses so many millions of lines of code in countless thousands of packages, that it would take years of effort and millions of dollars just to identify what was developed where.' I'm envisioning a lot of Bugzilla installations."
Is this why all those US bank notes say "IN DOD WE TRUST" on them?
They'll be unplugging the network. NSA probably has a work-around, though.
Username is joshua, and you don't need to enter a password.
Nowhere in the article does it say that the computers have to be on.
While we would like to thank you for participating in our security test, we can not further report on this event due to National Security, and we humbly request that all key loggers, camera phones and recording devices remain in the safe hands of our NSA coat-check-girls (for fine tuning).
The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
I'm sure we all remember the LAST time some snotty smart punks hacked into a military computer!
"Hello Professor Falken. Would you like to play a game?"
*shudder*
They'll probably just install Norton Internet Security.
What do we have for the runner-ups John?
Where the fun is
Hmmm, I guess he's run out of cheap ways to get attention. Maybe he could quit the AAA or the Subway Sub Club, or something like that.
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
As the post states, I don't think NSA will reveal all methods.
DOD: could you sec-test our network?
NSA: sure.
NSA: we've found these holes
DOD: fixed
DOD: hey, now even you guys can't get in!
NSA: Doh!
No electrons were harmed sending this message. Wait,
Cyber warfare, a subset of classic information war that goes back as far as ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu, has pushed its way into U.S. military curricula as the Internet has become pervasive.
Sun Tzu say "try asking them for their passwords, maybe offering a bar of chocolate in return."
---
"I did nothing. I did absolutely nothing and it was everything that I thought it could be."
A sargent is pacing in front of a line of soldiers at attention, bellowing, "I've never seen such a sloppy outfit! Dictionary passwords on the root filesystem - open NetBIOS ports on the security gateway!!"
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
...any chocolate bars.
... I personally find that Windows boxes are the hardest to crack, because every time I'm about to get in, the damn thing crashes and the victim reboots and I lose all my work. And then when I finally manage to get on the system, it crashes again, usually when I'm halfway done stealing his copy of Massive Zoomers and the Ladies Who Love 'Em 4. Arrrghghghghhhh!
It's just not worth it, the patented Windows BlueScreen Security System[tm] is foolproof. I'll take the easier road and stick to hacking OpenBSD boxes.
I'm not normally an irrational zealous dickhead, but I figure "When in Rome..."
Then stop beating a dead horse. It's not gonna happen, any more than my active campaign to call "automobiles", "eggplants". For some reason, people just aren't interested in changing the meaning of words they use already. Don't ask me why...
Anyway, I'm off to go get my eggplant registered.
Army slob 1: OK, everything locked down?
Army slob2: Services off, filtering on. Nothin's gettin' in here.
NSA hack: [Taps on keyboard. Clicks "Send."]
Army slob 1: Hey, check it out. I just got an email with nude pix of Natalie Portman and HOT GRITS!
Army slob 2: Score!
Army slob 1: [Clicks "Open Email"]
NSA 1: Army 0
blog
That's right folks, you heard it here on slashdot first:
Unix boxes are superior to Windows boxes because they're more waterproof