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YouTube Used for Whistleblowing
fightmaster writes "A Lockheed Martin engineer with concerns about the safety and security flaws in a fleet of refurbished Coast Guard patrol boats turned to YouTube in order to publicize concerns he felt were being ignored by his employer and the government. From the article: 'The 41-year-old Lockheed Martin engineer had complained to his bosses. He had told his story to government investigators. He had called congressmen. But when no one seemed to be stepping up to correct what he saw as critical security flaws in a fleet of refurbished Coast Guard patrol boats, De Kort did just about the only thing left he could think of to get action: He made a video and posted it on YouTube.com.'"
Was he going for first coast?
Very interesting. While I don't think all the equipment should be replaced to meet the artic temperature thing, I think that the problem should be noted, and the contractor should have to pay some reimbursement for not meeting all the terms of the contract. Some number of ships should be retrofitted, but it may be a big waste to do it with all of them
--
WHO ATE MY BREAKFAST PANTS?
While his employers probably will administratively punish and / or fire him, because his actions may save my coastie brothers and sisters
in the long run,I tip my hat off to you. Sometimes you gotta grab life by the horns, to do the right thing.
Regards,
MBC1977,
(US Marine, College Student, and Good Guy!)
Regards,
MBC1977,
If you point the finger at someone else, there are three more pointing back at you.
In other words, the standard pointing gesture highlights the intense scrutiny the whistleblower will face.
Spend your silver bullet wisely.
I sincerely hope that follow-on work isn't hard to come by.
If YouTube had existed in time for some space-shuttle engineers, we might not have had two birds transferred to NADA.
Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
The heritage of the SAME company that have bribed government heads, bureucrats in countries tenfold around the world, including germany, to oust their competitors and sell their f104s. Their FAULTY designs.
The SAME company who caused around 150-200 air service pilots to lose their lives around the world flying their faulty f104s.
The SAME company which recently admitted their wrong doing.
The SAME company, which is at it AGAIN.
Read radical news here
OK, let me summarize what he covers (I didn't finish the last bit of the video, though).
1. Blind spot in watch cameras.
OK, thanks for pointing those out. Now we can board the boats and steal them. Yes, this is an issue, and one that should be fixable, but extra cameras will also affect the systems that digitize and monitor them, as well. Still, this system should be fixed, but it's not a major thing, and now you've just told anybody who's interested (in a bad way) how to take advantage of the flaw. Thanks.
2. FLIR Equipment not rated for -40 deg
My problem with this is, working in automotive systems, we regularly see this requirement, and it's more of a "spec" thing. Most electronics are fine in cold weather... short of devices with moving parts (hard drive, for example). Just because the FLIR is not "rated" at -40 doesn't mean it can't handle such temperatures, only that one or more components (chips, capacitors, resistors, etc...) in the system are not CERTIFIED to operate at the wide range of temperatures. Certification for this requirement is often an expensive process and often, certified and uncertified parts are identical in everything but price (or availability, more often). I think he's a little bit out there on this one.
3. Use of non-shielded cable in "secure" communications systems.
This one is a bit ridiculous, and shows his paranoia. The cables failed "visual" - of course, because they are not shielded. He concludes that because they are not shielded, they MUST have failed the electronic test, and because they officially passed, somebody must have cheated. While Tempest-class (back in my days as a Marine) cables were shielded out the ying-yang, and there was, even back in the 80's some amazing intel gathering stuff out there (pull phone conversations from a telephone wire, 30 feet from the pole, wirelessly, for example)... we are talking about CUTTERS. ON THE SEA. Effectiveness of devices that can isolate and monitor any given cable line over more than 100 feet falls off dramatically, particularly in a signal-rich (i.e. "noisy") environment. I'm guessing the electronic test DID pass, which is why it was allowed to be built with the unshielded cable. Still, why couldn't they have provided proper shielded cable? It's not like a huge price difference, and if availability was an issue here, what about simple external mesh around the cable runs?
Like I said, I see he has concerns, but this is really the wrong way to deal with it, and puts our Coast Guards at much greater jeopardy than the things he's addressing!
If the employer AND the government AND the congressman AND apparently no one else will listen to this boob, maybe, just maybe, his issue ain't that important and he should quit bellyaching.
Does this also apply to engineers of electronic voting systems?
Or, maybe, instead of posting a video of him reading from a script, he could have just posted the script. Saves a lot of time and bandwidth for everyone involved.
How can we continue to believe in a just universe and freedom to eat crackers if we have no ale?
When engineers warned that New Orleans levees could not withstand a moderate-strength hurricane and complained to their employees, AND to the state, AND to the federal government AND apparently no one else would listen to these boobs, maybe, just maybe the issue was important and someone should have listened to their bellyaching.
You idiot.
This video was posted 3 weeks ago and only had a 100 odd ratings, even after appearing on slashdot. Meanwhile a regular skanky youtube teen could get thousands within a hours. Even you guys will probably move on to the next story in a few minutes. I think the government is safe.
Did you even watch the video?
Basically the entire project he was working on was a sham. Not only were the systems not designed to specifications but were flawed in such a way as that if they did fail they would do so catastrophically.
Do you even know what FLIR is? It's how they know navigate and identify targets in low-level light conditions or fog (which, I hope I don't have to tell you is very common on coastlines). It's very simple, if the FLIR system fails (and according to him it will at low temperatures), people can die--either from collisions or friendly fire. If what he's saying is true, he should be making a stink.
Furthermore, the security camera issue is huge too. It's one thing to have blind spots. It's quite another to have two symmetrical approach angles that lead right ONTO the ship which can't be seen. Again, a failure due to this design flaw could lead to either the capture or deaths of American servicemen. And it could've been fixed by only adding one more camera.
As far as the non-TEMPEST compliance goes--I don't know. As I understand it, TEMPEST is literally tin-foil hat paranoid, but honestly there's no reason not to use something as simple as shielded cables is that's all that's preventing compliance.
Regardless, this is just another example of how government incompetence combined with corporate greed serves to hurt the American taxpayer and unnecessarily puts the lives of our service-men and women at risk. If you don't think there's a connection between this very believable story and deadly screw-ups like the lack of armored vehicles in Iraq or the Ospreys crashes, you're the boob--not the whistleblower.
-Grym
His DUTY was to INFORM his management, government, congressman, intelligence services, etc. that he had SERIOUS concerns relative to the project he was leading. Anything less is unworthy of the status of Lead Engineer
Cliff Claven
K.E.G. Party Chairman
Founding Leader of: Koncerned for Egalitarin Governance
Compaired to who? Last I checked Lockheed makes the best radar systems in the world. Last I checked Lockheed makes the ONLY anti-ballistic missle defense systems in the world, not just land based by sea based.
It was also the company that is bailing out Raytheon on the Zumwalt class destroyers ( DD(X) / DD-21 ). Politics screwed that decision, almost forcing the contract to Raytheon who didn't have the capability to really design the ship. Realizing this Raytheon subcontracted Lockheed to do a lot of the work...
Again, inferior compaired to who? Now I do think that this might have some merit, but if no one cared at the Coast Guard, the people who are ordering the ships, I don't think there is anything more to say. In the end, they are the ones who need to say that it is unacceptible. They are the ones who need to say that we want X% of money back due to not meeting X requirement(s). Once they had been notified by this engineer of the concerns, I don't know what more you can say. Do we know if Lockheed themselves brought this up to the Coast Guard? As the engineer states, he no longer works on the program, and wouldn't be privy to that knowledge. If Lockheed brought the matter up to the Coast Guard and the Coast Guard didn't care, this is all a big nothing in my opinion. Yes, improvements could be made, but we can say that about everything out there. It all comes down to costs to make the improvements. If the Coast Guard would rather have the ships as is now instead of waiting x months for redesign, re-fit, then so be it.
We were all warned a long time ago that MS products sucked, remember the Magic 8 Ball said, "Outlook not so good"
the problem here is a belief that defense contractor work, and the suckage on the taxpayer teat has a direct relationship with the original requsted specification. Nothing could be further from the truth. This fellow honestly believes what he does what he builds or what he designs bears ANY resemblence to what some boots on the ground WANTED. Who was it who said: "Elephant: mouse designed by commitee to government specification" ?
- Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum, minutus carborata descendum pantorum.
Or he could have just sent an anonymous tip to the press who would have loved to pick up on something like this...
You think the media would have posted this? The media is more concerned with the (now cleared) Jon Bennett Ramsey suspect, a plane that crashed after flying off a short runway, and some polygamist that somehow ended up on the FBI most wanted list (I still wonder how that polygamist beat out all those serial child molesters, mass murderers, and terrorists).
And despite this being out there now, expect no mention in the mass media.
He said "We found out the FLIR system would not survive temperatures below -5". There is a vast chasm between saying "this FLIR is not rated for -5" and saying "the FLIR would not survive temperatures below -5". I'm not sure on FLIR sensitivity to cold weather, but he is implying it would then break.
Oh another point, all tactical systems that handle classified material and are not in special facilities, e.g. a SCIF, need to be protected against TEMPEST / COMSEC & all that jazz. This is common knowledge for anyone with a SIGINT background in the mil/intel arena.
Obviously a cutter is built for shallow water work. That means near to shores not way out in the Atlantic Ocean. Big Antenna on the shore, camo'd in the trees, picks up classified comms - not unrealistic.
There is no such thing as paranoia when it comes to protecting classified material.
Initially, I was considered as written by an amateur, but then I noticed that part about you being a Marine. Figures!
I think you might want to do a little research into the NSA's TEMPEST security standard. This evolved primarily out of the revelation of Wim van Eck who in 1985 demonstrated that it was possible to duplicate the display of a monitor at a range of several hundred meters, using $15 worth of electronics and a TV set. Unless they've been training people to decrypt (with their eyes and brains) information they read off a monitor, I think it's safe to assume that data displayed on a monitor aboard one of these ships is unencrypted, and potentially containing text messages about current intelligence, commands to the ship, etc. It's not that big of a reach to think with the advancements in DSPs since 1985, that $1500 worth of sniffing equipment could easily extend that several hundred metre range to 5 or 10 miles.
You might also do well to actually watch the video. Only the first batch of retrofitted ships are on regular patrol in the Gulf of Mexico. Eventually all the 123-foot Cutters, including those used in the Arctic and The Persian Gulf will receive the same retrofits.
cat
He was a serial child molester. Many of his "wives" were underage, as were several of the girls involved in "marriages" that he arranged.
And despite this being out there now, expect no mention in the mass media.
It might get mentioned now. It's an almost familiar pattern now: issue ignored by mainstream press, picked up and talked about on the internet, queries made to the press, and the press reading various blogs and sites like this, they finally decide it's a worthy story and run it.
I would certainly never expect to see anything on TV news first anymore.
If the masses can keep you down, you're not the Ubermensch.
By posting a video he's putting a face to the issue -- he becomes an actual person rather than merely a collection of words. It's far more engaging, and it makes a much greater impression than a semi-anonymous essay posted somewhere. Additionally, he probably wouldn't have gotten the press coverage he's getting if he had done as you suggest.
https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere
What does any of that have to do with any of the issues in question here? Interesting, Maybe. Relevent, no.
The guy's employers disagree with him that there is a problem. Simply because he's a "little guy" doesn't make him right. Apperently, no one else on the project agrees with him. But just because he's going up against the "big bad Lockheed Martin" doesn't make him right. We have no proof at all that anything he says is anything more than opinion.
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
Certainly we have no proof, but having worked several years for a prime defense contractor, I'm inclined to believe him just because this sounds exactly like the kind of shenanigans I saw firsthand in that environment. It's all about CYA, and whether a deliverable actually meets the requirements spelled out in the Statement of Work is often secondary to how much shit the CO or COTR will have to endure if it doesn't. Raising a red flag indicating that sub-standard deliverables had been accepted by the contracting agency was generally frowned upon quite intensely, as no one in the front offices of our organization wanted to bite the hand that fed them. I can't imagine that Lockheed would be much different.
The guy has basically destroyed his career and probably ruined himself financially to present this information, so I would think it's something he feels pretty strongly about.
Please stand clear of the doors, por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas
lose their lives around the world flying their faulty f104s.
:(
Here's a hint: If a company is in the business of making, marketing, and selling bombs, they have 0% respect for human life.
Try and keep that in mind
You can't take the sky from me...
Uh, in Britain, he would have been hit with the Official Secrets Act, prosecuted, driven out of the country and maybe put in prison for a few weeks until the government realized that they mede complete asses of themselves. ;)
Also with the challenger disaster, where the engineers' concerns were overruled by management.
I haven't worked with anything requiring the TEMPEST spec., but having done a little work in EMC labs (specifically, testing of leakage / interference in signal lines) I can say that unshielded lines DO leak signals out by default, sometimes with enough intensity to make nearby sensitive equipment not work (meaning way more than enough to detect). It is possible that it just happened to be pretty quiet this time, but that would just be good luck--and hopefully they checked every boat, since the results won't be the same.
Not just activity originating on the boat, but anything they happen to receive (since their equipment probably decodes all the classified signals going past) will leak out unencrypted.
These aren't just random people who would be trying to listen in on the Coast Gaurd--they've got to protect their data against other countries' equivalents to the NSA. Just because we're not at war with any Central / South American country doesn't mean it would be OK for them to hear our communications, or that they won't listen.
You're assuming a perfect world. In the real world, balanced circuits are not perfectly balanced and components drift and fail. Part of real-world engineering is to think about the consequences of foreseeable events.
Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
Thanks for taking your responsibilities seriously. We need more people that do.
Doubting the existence of evolution is like doubting the existence of China: It just shows that you're uninformed.
You are absolutely correct. I work for a non-defense large agency and it's the same sort of thing. The COTR makes deals with the business orgs "We'll deliver some unusable hunk of crap by December of 07 and you'll claim to be using it and we'll both get clean audits and then we can start work on the real system". It's actually even MORE depressing when you know from day one that the next 18 months of work you do is going to be thrown away in 18 months and one day.
It's a great use of taxpayer dollars.
Working for a federal agency has done what no amount of conservative pundits and economists could do for 20 years: made me an advocate of smaller government.
no analogously perverse incentive exists for them to deploy defective gunboats.
How about the fact that they've already been deployed, and fixing the problem will thus be expensive and inconvenient for the government/coast guard, and the contractor doesn't want egg on their face. Seems like a couple of good incentives to me.
In my mind, the issue here is not what the product was, or if it was acceptable. Because, this would be fine if it were private Coast Guard dollars paying for the boats. The issue is if tax dollars, gleaned from the hard working citizens, were squandered on a goverment program intended to protect the people, and the people end up not being protected either because of government inefficacy, or corporate greed. That is the real question.
Hahahahahaha, good one.
Your international calls are eavesdropped on by the NSA, an agency specifically not permitted to conduct surveillance on US citizens. Your domestic calls are traffic-analysed for "patterns indicating terrorism". Your ISP, telephone and library records are browsed by law enforcement not only without a warrant, but with punishments for the librarians/engineers/companies responsible if they tip you off.
You're holding hundreds of foreign nationals in legal limbo in a concentration camp, where they're regularly humiliated and tortured with complete administration approval. They're subject to secret trials without legal protection, and "due process" isn't even paid lip-service. The CIA has been caught illegally flying suspects to authoritarian regimes through your allies airports without permission so they can be "properly" tortured without US personnel being directly held responsible.
The PATRIOT act powers, far from only being used to catch terrorists (as promised) have been used to harrass holidaymakers, arrest peaceful demonstrators and deny innocent people flights and passports. In addition, said powers were recently renewed and made permanent, even though they were firmly promised to be "only temporary" when introduced after 9/11.
Your democratic system is hopelessly corrupt - one party controls (and is consolidating its hold) on all three branches of your government, your representatives are either corrupt or powerless in the face of the Whitehouse, judicial oversight of the executive branch has been gutted, your leaders are known to have broken the law multiple times and that's not even counting the constant background noise of corrupt representatives (to be fair, more Republicans than Democrats, but still both) being outed in dodgy financial deals and abuses of power. Your elections would embarrass a south american banana republic, with Diebold and ES&S machines showing all kinds of voting irregularities (when people haven't been erroneously thrown off the voting rolls for daring to have a similar name to a convicted felon), machines so easy to hack a chimpanzee has been videoed doing it and programmers testifying the systems are insecure by design, and that they were paid to produce election-subverting tools for Republican party members.
You've lost the rights to: not be searched without due cause, not permit law enforcement entry into your home without "good reason" to believe a crime is being committed, the right to free speech and the majority of rights ensuring your privacy.
And that's without even touching on the deliberate treason by the current administration outing an undercover CIA operative for political gains, "clamping down on terrorism" by selling off your ports to a middle-eastern company with decidedly dodgy connections, an illegal war in Iraq, thousands of US soldiers and tens of thousands of innocent foreign nationals dead, an army so unpopular it can't recruit enough people to mintain parity and so financially fucked it can't afford proper equipment for the people they already have.
Plus, y'know, Creationism/ID being taught as "science", the environment, your entire foreign policy making you a pariah in the international scene and all the other fun things that haven't changed a bit since 9/11.
Need I go on?
Everything in moderation, including moderation itself