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Russian Spy Ring Needed Some Serious IT Help

Posted by samzenpus on from the close-your-spy-network dept.

coondoggie writes "The Russian ring charged this week with spying on the United States faced some of the common security problems that plague many companies — misconfigured wireless networks, users writing passwords on slips of paper, and laptop help desk issues that take months to resolve."

5 of 191 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Well this just proves by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    That seal is hanging at the NSA museum. If you go there, you can open it up and see the microphone. Pretty neat.

    http://www.nsa.gov/about/cryptologic_heritage/museum/virtual_tour/museum_tour_text.shtml

    look for "great seal"

  2. Re:Well this just proves by sznupi · · Score: 2, Informative

    To be fair, it might have been just as well made by children - at least when it comes to visible parts ;p

    Also, the seal device was actually hung on a wall in Soviet Union, by the US ambassador there. The interesting part made by no other but...Theremin.

    --
    One that hath name thou can not otter
  3. Re:Thats the least of their problems. by Mashiki · · Score: 4, Informative

    You laugh and mock, but the last head of IT we had, had us on 14 day rotating passwords. After 2 months he got canned.

    --
    Om, nomnomnom...
  4. Re:Well this just proves by Darth+Cider · · Score: 4, Informative

    That listening device hidden in the great seal was invented by Leon Theremin, the same guy who invented the theremin musical instrument.

  5. they did it on british soil by circletimessquare · · Score: 4, Informative

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoning_of_Alexander_Litvinenko

    if they have no problem doing it on british soil, what would stop them from doing it on american soil?

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it