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Railroad Association Says TSA's Hacking Memo Was Wrong

McGruber writes "Wired reports that the American Association of Railroads is refuting the U.S. Transportation Security Administration memorandum that said hackers had disrupted railroad signals. In fact, 'There was no targeted computer-based attack on a railroad,' said AAR spokesman Holly Arthur. 'The memo on which the story was based has numerous inaccuracies.' The TSA memo was subject of an earlier Slashdot story in which Slashdot user currently_awake accurately commented on the true nature of the incident."

17 of 121 comments (clear)

  1. Lying again? by sadness203 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'm not surprised... TSA is a cancer.

    1. Re:Lying again? by ackthpt · · Score: 5, Funny

      I'm not surprised... TSA is a cancer.

      TSA THREAT LEVEL ORANGE

      Talk like that will elevated it to PLAID

      --

      A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    2. Re:Lying again? by jamstar7 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      No, TSA is just justifying its budget. Nothing to see, move along, move along.

      --
      Understanding the scope of the problem is the first step on the path to true panic.
    3. Re:Lying again? by JWSmythe · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You are absolutely right. If there is no threat, there is no job. So they will make themselves worthwhile any way they can.

          Consider the current "Terrorists want to blow up your plane with binary explosives!". You can't carry a soda on a plane, unless you purchased from a TSA approved vendor inside of the security perimeter. And dear god, a mother can't bring a bottle of breast milk.

          Even lighters were banned for a while, but after enough complaints, they again allowed them.

          Terrorists must be anyone who isn't an old rich white guy. If they talk funny, look different, or behave differently due to cultural differences, they must be terrorists. The evil enemy that all Americans must fear.

          The terrorist behind every Bush fear subsided. Then we killed the leader of the terrorists we were told to fear.

          They are trying to find the next threat. If there isn't a threat, there isn't a need for DHS, is there? Those new threats will keep coming. They may be foreign nationals with a misguided grudge. They may even be regular, but insane, Americans.

          If they don't get enough real threats, they'll overstate some minor threat. They weren't clear what the real threat was. It could have been a local kid, who bounced through an off-shore server, who managed to log into a control box.

          My question is, why the hell would they leave those controls accessible by the Internet in general? Why was it connected to the Internet at all? Assuming there was a good reason for it, why weren't they restricted to select IPs? Rather than freaking out and blaming "the terrorists", why don't we focus on the problems like "our infrastructure shouldn't be accessible by the whole Internet".

          Hell, when I stick a server online with a previously unused IP, I get people trying to hit it in no time. If you want some entertainment, put an older unpatched distribution up with root logins enabled, and set the password to "password". I'd give it 10 minutes before it had new people running it.

          Lets not forget who the new terrorists are. All those people who agree with, or fall into the category of 99%. Domestic terrorism is our greatest threat. They must be stopped. We're going to need bigger prisons and more guys with badges and guns.

          Oh wait.. I forgot the right line. "I trust our government. Terrorists are behind every Bush. Protect me government. I'll give up any rights you ask me to."

      --
      Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
  2. Fearmongering by guruevi · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I think the railroads are the last form of transportation where TSA is not allowed and they want their grubby little hands in the pot. There is literally a conspiracy going on to track every citizen where they are. They can already track your car with all the camera's (to monitor traffic or give you tickets) and license plate detection in unmarked and regular police cars as well as pull you over, detain you indefinitely and search you without cause if you are 200mi from a US border or airport. Now they want in on the train stations too so all railways would be included in their 200 mile zones?

    I say, kill the beast while you still can. The TSA needs to be shut down immediately.

    --
    Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
    1. Re:Fearmongering by Samantha+Wright · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I say, nonsense! Instead we should vote to rename the TSA to Central Services. I mean, we've already caught them red-handed making up acts of terrorism to facilitate power grabs—what's missing?

      --
      Bio questions? Ask me to start a Q&A journal. Computer analogies available for most topics!
  3. Re:And we want this gov't in charge of health care by X0563511 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    There's a difference. Putting them in charge of health care is a matter of ensuring our wellbeing. The others are about violating our rights.

    --
    For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
  4. Re:And we want this gov't in charge of health care by Brett+Buck · · Score: 4, Funny

    Heh, I wish I had mod points - but I am sure the point will be lost on most of the mods. +5 Funny!

  5. How inconvenient for TSA by CelticWhisper · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'm sure TSA is unhappy about this. They've long been talking about their intent to spread out into other modes of transportation. Since Amtrak's police have been throwing them out of train stations lately, they've no doubt been searching for any politically-convenient justification they can find to invade rail transit. Doubly so since Amtrak ridership is at an all-time high with people taking trains for the sole purpose of avoiding TSA.

    For the politically-active among us, this is perhaps a good opportunity to write to U.S. congresspeople to alert them about TSA's misrepresentation of this report, as well as state congresspeople to encourage them to pass state-level legislation reining in TSA (Tenth Amendment Center has a pre-written Travel Freedom Act that works at the state level to criminalize invasive TSA screening procedures).

    TSA isn't going to stop their reign of sexual assault and desecration of Constitutional rights until and unless the people stop it for them. Public opinion has been turning against TSA lately, especially with the three elderly travelers who were strip-searched late last year (about which TSA blatantly lied). Now is as good a time as ever to push your elected officials to stop TSA. The site in my sig is a good resource, as is Freedom To Travel USA. Please do anything and everything you can to help stop TSA.

    --
    Help protect civil rights from abuse by the TSA - visit TSA News Blog.
    http://www.tsanewsblog.com
  6. Re:And we want this gov't in charge of health care by dougisfunny · · Score: 5, Funny

    Whoosh?
    Ostensibly the TSA, PATRIOT ACT, etc are there to ensure public well being.

    --
    This is not the funny you're looking for.
  7. Re:And we want this gov't in charge of health care by characterZer0 · · Score: 4, Informative

    health care != health insurance

    --
    Go green: turn off your refrigerator.
  8. Re:And we want this gov't in charge of health care by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Oh yeah. Cause for-profit industry is doing a great job bringing affordable health care to the masses.

    The government isn't going to make health care more affordable, they're just going to make someone else pay for it.

  9. Re:And we want this gov't in charge of health care by Dcnjoe60 · · Score: 4, Informative

    health care != health insurance

    True, but in the United States, without health insurance, you cannot get adequate health care.

  10. Really TSA? by Kozar_The_Malignant · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Was this really TSA? Let's see:
    • False story... check
    • Spreading FUD... check
    • Blaming hackers... check
    • For something that didn't happen... check

    Yep, TSA alright.

    --
    Some mornings it's hardly worth chewing through the restraints to get out of bed.
  11. Re:And we want this gov't in charge of health care by Em+Adespoton · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Actually, in most countries with socialized healthcare, the government DOES make healthcare more affordable. This is due to the fact that since they're footing the bill and are already in debt, they don't want to have to spend more on healthcare than they need to -- because unlike other budgets, it's hard to kick back some of the healthcare budget into perks for government employees without a huge backlash from the electorate.

    So what you get is big pharm saying "here are these drugs for $X." and government saying "Not if you want to sell them in this country, they're not. You get our contract only if you sell them for $Y*."

    *usually, YX.....

  12. Re:And we want this gov't in charge of health care by Dishevel · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The government should be restrained from doing anything that not only the government can do.
    The government is wasteful and slow. everything it does can be done better, faster and cheaper by private enterprise.
    There are of course no exceptions to this rule. There is however a problem. There are certain things that ONLY a government can do.
    Defense being just one. Only a federal government can be effective dealing with foreign governments. You need a federal government to dole out the radio spectrum. You need a federal government to make the state governments play nice. You need government to protect your rights. The government has to do these things.
    It still does them at great expense and badly. Still it is government that needs to do them.

    Health care.
    Let me start by reminding people what "rights" are. "Rights" are things that the government should never be allowed to take from you and that the government should protect from being taken from you. They are not things that are given. I have a right to my spiritual beliefs. I have a right to speak my mind. I had a right to bear arms to protect myself, my neighbor, my community and my country if need be. I have a right to a fair hearing before my rights are taken from me. I have a right to not be compelled to incriminate myself. These and a few more are rights.
    I do not have a "right" to your car. I do not have a right to your money. I do not have a right to health care. These things would be nice. I am not saying they are bad. They however are most certainly not rights.
    That which is given to you can be taken from you. Protect your rights and stop giving them up for your wants. It feels good now but as all governments do. This government will continue grow and take your rights. They will offer you candy for your rights. You will give them up. When you finally see what they are doing it will be to late. You will have given up freedom of speech to protect suicidal teenagers from mean high school bullies. You will have given up your right to a gun in a vain attempt to take them away from evil people. You will have given up your right to a fair trial to protect yourself form scary terrorists. You will have given up your rights. They will not taken them from you. You will give them up. Then you will have no protection left.

    Understand the difference between what you want and your rights. Then make sure you do not give up your rights for warm feelings inside.

    --
    Why is it so hard to only have politicians for a few years, then have them go away?
  13. Re:And we want this gov't in charge of health care by ATMAvatar · · Score: 4, Informative

    Reality seems to contradict you. The US healthcare system is neither cheap (most expensive on the planet) nor efficient/good (usually towards the bottom of the list when ranking 1st world countries). In contrast, many of the cheapest and best systems for healthcare are either national healthcare systems (e.g., Canada and UK) or hybridized systems (e.g., the Netherlands).

    --
    "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."