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Computer Spies Breach $300B Fighter-Jet Project

suraj.sun writes "Computer spies have broken into the Pentagon's $300 billion Joint Strike Fighter project — the Defense Department's costliest weapons program ever — according to current and former government officials familiar with the attacks. Similar incidents have also breached the Air Force's air-traffic-control system in recent months, these people say. In the case of the fighter-jet program, the intruders were able to copy and siphon off several terabytes of data related to design and electronics systems, officials say, potentially making it easier to defend against the craft."

26 of 330 comments (clear)

  1. Oops, sorry...that was me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I thought I was downloading the latest Windows 7 beta candidate
    boy is my face red.

    (ob: what's that knock on my door, I'll be *NO CARRIER*)

    1. Re:Oops, sorry...that was me by Arthur+Grumbine · · Score: 5, Funny

      Note to self - do not end *NO CARRIER* joke with a closing parenthesis

      --
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    2. Re:Oops, sorry...that was me by ciggieposeur · · Score: 2, Funny

      Note to AC: do not reply to yourself with a "note to self" using your real ID.

  2. Re:Only a few terabytes? by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Funny

    (cue spy mike in the cafeteria a few days ago)

    "Bob, is it me or is the network reeeeally slow again t'day?"
    "Yeah, wonder what the goons in IT are pissin' with today. Wish they'd tell us that before they start rewiring everything."

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  3. Re:Why? by Spazztastic · · Score: 4, Funny

    Why are these sensitive systems connected to the public internet. Either directly or indirectly, whose bright idea was it? If you need a computer in the lab connected to the internet, fine, just keep the infrastructure seperate.

    You see, they weren't actually. They were on a private network but they were able to siphon off data by hanging a bucket off of the network cable and cutting a hole in it. The bits fell into the bucket, and the rest is history...

    --
    Posts not to be taken literally. Almost everything is sarcasm.
  4. oh im sure by ellenbee · · Score: 0, Funny

    More propaganda to make us "scared" of the internet!!! Yes we better lock down dem interenets boys, the internet is a national security threat !

  5. Re:Why? by Kotoku · · Score: 4, Funny

    Wait..I'm confused. The Internet is a series of buckets? What if the siphon tube gets clogged?

  6. Open source. by dtml-try+MyNick · · Score: 5, Funny

    2009, the year of the open source Jet Fighter.

    --
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  7. Re:Only a few terabytes? by aliquis · · Score: 2, Funny

    As a Swedish pirate with a fast cheap Internet connection all I can say is:

    Future Gripen upgrade is imminent, take that Norway! :D

    Welcome to the future.

  8. Re:Why? by Spazztastic · · Score: 4, Funny

    No, it's a series of tubes that can be siphoned off into a bucket. Look, kid, you're asking questions that are way above your head here...

    --
    Posts not to be taken literally. Almost everything is sarcasm.
  9. Re:Sloppy espionage ? by oldspewey · · Score: 2, Funny

    Of course the US routinely penetrates Chinese systems in order to steal military secrets ... and in response we have developed an absolutely airtight national defence against the Mig-19 and all its variants.

    --
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  10. Re:Responsibility by VShael · · Score: 2, Funny

    There Are So many randomly capped wordS in tHAT post, I thought you were posting in code.

  11. Re:Only a few terabytes? by Shakrai · · Score: 5, Funny

    There was an interesting example of this posted on Wikileaks a year or so ago, of an American nuclear bomb design obtained from the Russians, which contained a few minor and difficult-to-find design flaws that would have prevented the bomb from actually working if it had been built along those lines.

    So THAT'S why my nuclear bomb didn't work ;)

    --
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    We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
  12. Re:Sloppy espionage ? by Thanshin · · Score: 4, Funny

    Now, I sit down in my home in China, run some scripts, hack a US government computer, brag to my friends, etc.... Someone from the US government calls... wait a minute, no they didn't. No one even cared. But lets pretend they did care and they called some official in China and told them what was going on... *LAUGHTER AND LOTS OF POINTING* from the Chinese side.

    I sit down in my home in Spain, run some scripts, hack a US government computer, brag to my friends, etc.... Someone from the spanish government takes a sip from his third coffee of the morning while vaguely rememorating the last time he did some work, many years before. Then, he decides it's a perfect day to go home before noon and leaves.

  13. The real story by British · · Score: 2, Funny

    I know someone who was involved with this. They stored the project's blueprints on a video game cartridge. It could only be accessed if you played all the way through the end of the game. After that, the blueprints showed, wireframe graphics & all.

  14. Not even Jack Bauer can prevent leaks by patro · · Score: 4, Funny

    It doesn't matter if the data is on the Internet. No matter how well you protect your data there always are rogue agents on the roster who have access to everything and can operate undetected for a long period of time.

    I'm not kidding. I have my sources. I watch 24 after all.

  15. Re:Why? by Kotoku · · Score: 2, Funny

    Hey if I'm old enough to work for the government that should tell you I'm old enough to have an intelligent discussion!

  16. Re:Only a few terabytes? by pmarini · · Score: 2, Funny

    does it mean that the FBI, NSA and Big Brother AT&T also have a copy of these thanks to wholesale wiretapping?

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    Your wheels are loose and they're losing their grip, good you're there.
  17. Re:Sloppy espionage ? by m50d · · Score: 3, Funny
    1) a foreign country doesn't want to loose face

    Yeah, they'd end up looking rather slack-jawed.

    --
    I am trolling
  18. Re:Only a few terabytes? by JCSoRocks · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yeah, that's what happens when you have a, "shiny bomb-casing filled with used pinball machine parts."

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  19. Re:Only a few terabytes? by StoatBringer · · Score: 3, Funny

    Clearly, you simply need to connect the red wire to th
    +++NO CARRIER+++

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  20. Re:Only a few terabytes? by Kell+Bengal · · Score: 2, Funny

    I am interested in your idea and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

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  21. Re:Only a few terabytes? by CopaceticOpus · · Score: 4, Funny

    Try switching to Comcast(TM)! Their advanced security features would have detected this breach and put a stop to it after only a mere 250G was transferred. It's Comcastic(TM)!

    (I just hope the spies didn't discover the fighter's only weakness, a small thermal exhaust port...)

  22. Re:Only a few terabytes? by ravenshrike · · Score: 2, Funny

    They did with the AK-47

  23. Re:Only a few terabytes? by tomthegeek · · Score: 2, Funny

    +1 Unabomber

  24. Re:Sloppy espionage ? by Maximum+Prophet · · Score: 2, Funny

    The MIG-23 is a awesome jet, but if we wanted any secrets from it, all we had to do was buy one for $20,000 and a case of vodka during the breakup of the Soviet Union.

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