Slashdot Mirror
FAA Network Hacked
coondoggie writes "The Federal Aviation Administration has joined the growing list of government agencies that have had their supposedly safe systems hacked. The agency this week notified about 45,000 employees that one of its servers was hacked into and employee personal identity information was stolen.
The FAA was quick to say the server that was accessed was not connected to the operation of the air traffic control system or any other FAA operational system. It did say two of the 48 files on the breached computer server contained personal information about more than 45,000 FAA employees and retirees who were on the FAA's rolls as of the first week of February 2006."
Hope they find that CIP device soon!
Has the CIP device been recovered yet? Should we call in Jack Bauer?
Our top priority is recovering the CIP device!!
...but they have said nothing to me or my wife or any of the other dozen people I know who are blissfully retired from that shit hole. Typical.
Of which the FAA is apart of, I can say, with absolute certainty, that like every other major entity, there are literally dozens and dozens of systems that are in no way connected to the ATC, or any other network for that matter. Yes they are networked, but so is every desktop and every camera, that does not mean they are not well isolated and secure from each other.
FAA has well over 10k hosts (desktops, servers, etc etc), its unfortunate, but expected that many of those hosts are probably vulnerable to something. But at the same time, critical systems (ATC for example), are generally isolated from the basic FAA backbone, and on a closed network.
I came, I conquered, I coredumped
Windows cannot find Control Tower. Hit any key to continue.
Dear Colleagues: I want to alert you that the Cyber Security Management Center identified some unusual activity from an FAA administrative server last week. An investigation revealed that the server was breached by a hacker. Most of the 48 breached files were test files used for application development. Two of these files contained names and social security numbers. One of them contained information on more than 45,000 employees and retirees who were on FAA rolls as of the first week of February 2006. Medical information from the hacked files was encrypted and not identifiable. We are moving swiftly to identify short-term and long-term measures â" procedural and technological â" to prevent such incidents from recurring. All current and former employees who are affected will receive a letter shortly alerting them to this event. In addition, we are posting information in the form of FAQs on the employee and public web sites, and we will update that information, via the web and other channels, should the investigation reveal more information. We also are setting up a toll-free hotline to answer employee calls related to this event. We will continue our efforts to further protect our computer security systems and will keep you informed as the investigation continues. Lynne Osmus Acting FAA Administrator
Oh get off your 133tist high-horse.
You know, or should know at any rate, that language changes over time. The correct definition of a word is the one that people actually understand. Like it or not, when people say "hacked" in this context, people understand that it means "illicitly and illegally accessing a computer system". I understand that, everyone else understands that, and therefore -- like it or not -- it is now the definition of the word.
When are YOU ever going to get that the definition has evolved and changed? YOU are the one clinging to a deprecated and archaic definition of the word that only a very small percentage of the population knows, and an even smaller percentage actually cares about.
P.S. Same goes for "piracy".
The
The FAA network security is enforced through obscurity. To successfully hack it you have to be a retired COBOL programmer.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?