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FEMA Phones Hacked, Calls Made To Mideast and Asia

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the oh-that's-just-not-good dept.

purplehayes writes "A hacker broke into a Homeland Security Department telephone system over the weekend and racked up about $12,000 in calls to the Middle East and Asia. The hacker made more than 400 calls on a Federal Emergency Management Agency voicemail system in Emmitsburg, Md., on Saturday and Sunday, according to FEMA spokesman Tom Olshanski."

21 of 241 comments (clear)

  1. In FEMA's defense by elrous0 · · Score: 5, Funny

    The hacker was in New Orleans. So they were obligated by official policy to ignore his calls.

    --
    SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    1. Re:In FEMA's defense by cayenne8 · · Score: 5, Insightful
      "The hacker was in New Orleans. So they were obligated by official policy to ignore his calls."

      Hey, it would be a little 'justice'...considering how badly FEMA screwed over many from the area.

      Just another example of the incompetence of this Federal government agency. From my experience with them, and most all other govt agencies that have to deal with large numbers of people...sadly, the incompetence, red tape, and waste of money is a common denominator.

      And now...we're wanting to put THEM in charge of our medical care? Scary.

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    2. Re:In FEMA's defense by AlterRNow · · Score: 5, Funny

      Did anyone else "hear" that in Abe Simpsons voice?

      "Epa! Eeeepaaa!"

      --
      The disappearing pencil trick. Let me show you it.
    3. Re:In FEMA's defense by megaditto · · Score: 5, Informative

      "Ask not what your country can do for you[...]

      I recognize these words. I think these were uttered by JF Kennedy, the man who started the war in Vietnam, sent thousands of American conscripts to die there, all while snorting coke off Marilyn Monroe sweet butt (and while his brother the Attorney General Bobby Kennedy wiretapped Martin Luther King and other civil rights leaders).
      No wonder that asshole didn't want us asking what our country could do for us.

      [...] but what you can do for your country!"

      You actually believe that shit? Talk about "useful idiots"...

      --
      Obama likes poor people so much, he wants to make more of them.
    4. Re:In FEMA's defense by pcolaman · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Before you start acting like you know what you are talking about...nevermind, just don't speak. You are from AR, your experience with Hurricanes amounts to what leftovers you may get with a storm that passes through Mississippi. I went through Ivan, Dennis, parts of Katrina, etc etc. I live in Pensacola, which is right in the middle of Hurricane Alley. The problems with New Orleans were primarily the fault of the state of Louisiana and the city government, not the Federal Government and FEMA. Mayor Nagin advised people NOT to leave town and only gave the order to evac less than 24 hours before the storm hit. And the city and state misused Federal funds that were supposed to be used to shore up the levies. Let's not forget that Biloxi had far worse damage from Katrina, but was forgotten because NO had serious flooding damage from the levies collapsing, not from storm damage. Most of the damage occurred days after the Hurricane, not while it was passing through. And the US Army and US Navy were the first on the scene, but even they had to wait until the storm was out of the way. No use trying to rescue people if your helicopters are damaged beyond use because of storm damage. Oh yeah, while we're on this discussion, let's talk about the fact that people were basically handed free money in the form of Debit cards after Katrina, without any vetting process to determine who needed money. Everything from Girls Gone Wild to Sex change operations were purchased with said free Debit cards. What major aid was given to Biloxi, given that their wind damage was far worse than that of New Orleans? For that matter, other than blue tarps and MREs, people in Pensacola had to all but fend for themselves after Ivan, but we managed just fine. If you REALLY had experience with Hurricanes, you'd know that you are responsible for surviving on your own for a maximum of 5 days, as the state and federal government will tell you, because sometimes it's not possible for them to get to you immediately. It was a failure on the city and state's fault to not prepare their populace, and the stupidity of the people of New Orleans for living in a city below sea level. It was bound to happen eventually.

  2. Hacker? by ilovegeorgebush · · Score: 4, Informative

    Shouldn't this be 'phreaker'? The article even states the break-in was over their PBX (i.e. a convential phone system, not VoIP).

    --
    ilovegeorgebush
    1. Re:Hacker? by Enderandrew · · Score: 4, Funny

      He used a whistle found in a cereal box.

      --
      http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
    2. Re:Hacker? by elrous0 · · Score: 5, Funny

      No, he trained his dog to howl at 2600 hz.

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    3. Re:Hacker? by volxdragon · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yes, the correct term is Phreaking, but come on, this is the AP....you expect them to get that right?

  3. Re:Who hacks phones anymore? by hal9000(jr) · · Score: 5, Interesting

    because phones, and more likely modems attached to stuff, still provide reliable ways to break into systems.

    You kids and your IP telephony. Get off my lawn!

  4. Who is valuing these minutes? by Sir_Real · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Twelve Grand?! Is this another indicator of inflation? Who is billing this out? For 12 grand the phone companies should give you a phone that will work for life, from anywhere, to anywhere. Are the same people responsible for claiming that a quarter of schwag has a "street value" of fifty grand?

    1. Re:Who is valuing these minutes? by e4g4 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Personally I've always thought people stupid enough to call weed "schwag" would be stupid enough to pay 50 grand for a quarter of it.

      "Schwag" refers to the quality of the weed, like "middies", "kind" and "dank". "Schwag" refers to brownish, dry, shakey crap with seeds and stems (usually outdoor bud grown in Mexico). A quarter of schwag isn't worth much more than $20-$30 (at least on the east coast).

      --
      The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources. - Albert Einstein
  5. Verizon guy by Enderandrew · · Score: 4, Funny

    He kept calling that damned annoying Verizon guy.

    "You're in Thailand now? Can you hear me now?"

    --
    http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
  6. Incompetence... by nobodylocalhost · · Score: 4, Insightful

    DHS is like the laughing stock of government security. Being PBX Phreaked with a 15 year old hack is just bad... Hope the next administration isn't this incompetent.

    --
    Where is the "Ignorant" mod tag?
  7. Government Accounting by lewko · · Score: 4, Funny

    400 calls totalling $12,000.

    That is, about $30 per call.

    And from the article: "Most of the calls were about three minutes long, but some were as long as 10 minutes."

    As long as 10 minutes? Not only did FEMA have a badly configured phone system, they must have had some of the crappiest call plans I could possibly imagine. I mean, where were the calls terminating? The moon?

    Your tax dollars at work.

    --
    Do you or your partner snore? - Visit www.snoring.com.au
  8. Re:No Skype? by BitterOldGUy · · Score: 5, Funny

    So he doesn't have a Skype account?

    Pfft! Who needs Skype when you have the FEMA Phone! Yes! With the FEMA Phone you can call anywhere in the World for FREE! And if you act now, you can get your own FEMA Trailer for Free!

    Subject to criminal prosecution and penalties. Offerer is not responsible for purchaser's stupidity.

  9. Re:Who hacks phones anymore? by sm62704 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I saw this on Yahoo news this morning (and submitted it, apparently my submission wasn't the first). It looked to me like the purpose of the hack was to discredit the DHS, which is FEMA's parent organization.

    Note that all the calls went to middle east countries, including Afghanistan and Yemen, both Taliban havens. IMO the hacker did the US a great service by exposing FEMA's incompetence. Katrina is fading in folks' memories and "Brownie", who took the fall for that cluster fuck, is long gone but the agency is still apparently still incredibly dysfunctional and run by incompetents.

    Excellence and failure both start at the top. When the head guy is incompetent, he will hire incompetents.

    --
    mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
  10. But he assured the hole has since been closed... by s.d. · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Olshanski did not know who the contractor was or what hole specifically was left open, but he assured the hole has since been closed.

    "I don't know who it was or what they did or didn't do, but I assure you they fixed it."

  11. Re:Who hacks phones anymore? by megamerican · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Katrina is fading in folks' memories and "Brownie", who took the fall for that cluster fuck, is long gone but the agency is still apparently still incredibly dysfunctional and run by incompetents.

    Excellence and failure both start at the top. When the head guy is incompetent, he will hire incompetents.

    If you haven't noticed, the best way to get a bigger budget and more power is to be incompetent. That's the supposed reason why DHS was created in the first place.

    If you subsidize stupidity, that is all you'll ever get.

    --
    If you have something that you dont want anyone to know, maybe you shouldnt be doing it in the first place -Eric Schmidt
  12. Re:Phone Hacking by Hognoxious · · Score: 4, Funny

    The only thing I can figure out is that some nerd was busy talking to his girlfriend on vacation.

    I'm sure there's a flaw in that theory, but I just can't put my finger on it.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  13. Re:Who hacks phones anymore? by photon317 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'd like to offer a dissenting opinion on the FEMA issue in New Orleans. States are supposed to have some kind of emergency preparedness of their own. It's not enough to just fall apart and beg for FEMA to save you. FEMA's traditional role has been to show up late and provide sustaining support in the aftermath of an event, not to be the first responders at the moment of crisis. Many other states understand this. Texas (a nearby neighbor who ended up bearing the brunt of the NO disaster refugees) for example rarely needs FEMA - when hurricanes head for Texas, they deploy their local resources to remedy the immediate situation.

    The problem with the NO disaster was not FEMA. The problem was the bankrupt, ineffective, unprepared, and completely corrupt local and state governments in the area who had nothing to offer their citizens when disaster struck.

    --
    11*43+456^2