Slashdot Mirror
Swiss Spy Agency: Counter-Terrorism Secrets Stolen
Rambo Tribble writes "The Swiss spy agency, NDB, reports a disaffected employee walked out with drives containing terabytes of data shared by counter-terrorism agencies in Switzerland, the U.S. and Britain. It is not yet known if he was able to pass on any information before he was apprehended. 'A European security source said investigators now believe the suspect became disgruntled because he felt he was being ignored and his advice on operating the data systems was not being taken seriously.'"
If his advice included encryption and proper employee screening, maybe he was right.
Somehow, I'm not terribly worried. Terrorism is a lesser threat to any of us than slipping in the shower is.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
...this guy's counter counter terrorism ploy?
Nice!
"I love animals! Some are cute, others are tasty, what's not to like?" - Betsy Schroeder, Jeopardy contestant
The title says it all.
"Really, guys, hide it in plain sight so nobody thinks it's important. Get hot new stuff, tweet it out. Ever hear of a public Wiki?"
the big question is, do they have a capital punishment law for treason over there? or does the Swiss Army just take turns batting you around all day?
if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
If he did this to prove that the security measures are so lax that lives are in danger - then he very honorably sacrificed his career.
If he made a backup copy, then he should go to jail.
Something tells me that most of this stolen info consists of data gathered on "terrorists" like movie pirates, government critics, and information leakers.
What political party do you join when you don't like Bible-thumpers *or* hippies?
from TFA:
"The source said that under the NDB's present structure, its human resources staff - responsible for, among other things, ensuring the reliability and trustworthiness of the agency's personnel - is lumped together organizationally with the agency's information technology division. This potentially made it difficult or confusing for the subdivision's personnel to investigate themselves"
you'd think they'd have taken this into consideration in the first place. Rookie mistake?
OH NOES!
Now the TERR'ISTS gonna have all our GROPING secrets for PAT DOWNS! :-)
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
If he was able to get Terabytes of data out with impunity and walk out with it in a back pack than he was right that things weren't being done right. If they had been working with best practices he never would have been able to pull the data out.
Read the article, sounds like the only reason the data didn't go to the highest bidder is he hadn't sold it yet. They said he was disgruntled, perhaps he was willing to sacrifice his career to make a point about things not being done right?
He'll get (and should get) time in prison for this and he's a fool for having done it. Lesson to learn from this for those new in their career and who see problems and find management unwilling to do anything about them. Document them in an email at some point to make sure you can't be blamed for ignoring an issue. Once you've done that drop it and let it go, because it isn't worth your career or prison time to prove your right. Let it go, let it go.
1: "The suspect in the spy data theft worked for the NDB, or Federal Intelligence Service, which is part of Switzerland's Defense Ministry, for about eight years."
2: "He was described by a source close to the investigation as a "very talented" technician and senior enough to have "administrator rights," giving him unrestricted access to most or all of the NDB's networks, including those holding vast caches of secret data."
A: "for about eight years" --> "unrestricted access to most or all of [...] vast caches of secret data"
Eight years? That's it? Really?
ZX2C4
This event dates from late September. As far as I know he was caught, before he could sell anything.
But, the Swiss Secret Service was lucky: The guy was caught because his bank became suspicious when he wanted to set up bank accounts to receive the future price for the loot.
The guy essentially walked out of the place with disk drives full of data. As he was the IT maintenance guy, he could pull this off without anybody getting suspicious. If your IT guy replaces 'broken' disk drives, everything is ok, other employees thought. As Switzerland is small, that department was small too, so there was a lack of resources.
Markus
The Swiss security is similar to their cheese?
Simply list secured directories/files and secured output devices (printers, usb, etc). If you try to move/copy/edit anything from a secured directory or to a secured device, your command gets put in a queue and waits for a second user to ok it.
Is there anything like this available already?
"The suspect [had] unrestricted access to most or all of the NDB's networks, including those holding vast caches of secret data".
Did no-one in this self-described Federal Intelligence Service notice him downloading terrabytes of data?
AccountKiller
in 5... 4... 3... 2...
Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
'A European security source said investigators now believe the suspect became disgruntled because he felt he was being ignored and his advice on operating the data systems was not being taken seriously.'"
Okay poindexter, what exactly was the issue? Some non-technical middle manager didn't understand the overarching brilliance of your recommended filesystem? Afraid the key length is too short? Too much Linux? Not enough Linux? Welcome to the real world, where your temper tantrum effects no change for anyone else but you. Hope your issue wasn't genuinely important, you'll have a hard time making your case from prison. /facepalm.
Swiss counter-terrorism includes probably a list of tax agents of foreign countries (such as the USA, most EU countries, and other countries looking for black money of their citizens).
You IT guys seem so sensitive! Makes this old Marine Corps Vetaren want to puke! First, debrief the traitor. Who knows maybe his advice on operating the data systems may yield something. Then, throw his a$$ into solitary in a super max prison for 10 to 15 years and see if it cures his disgruntled-ness!!!
My karma is bad. Don't get too close!!!
This is old news, geez. Here's a quick summary of the facts:
- The Swiss intelligence agency had pathetic security. This guy was an IT guy with far too much direct access to data. Second, there was no policy in place restricting (and checking) what employees could carry in and out of the building. So he duplicated the contents of numerous entire disks, and walk out the door carrying the copies.
- The guy was an idiot. He copied terabytes of data, figuring to get rich quick. But he had no idea how to sell the stuff, so he apparently walked into some random foreign embassy and asked if they wanted to buy the stuff. The embassy apparently quietly informed the Swiss government, and the guy was arrested.
- Because of the way it went down, apparently there is little doubt that he never managed to sell anything. I.e., no data was compromised. This being entirely due to dumb luck, or rather, to the stupidity of the criminal.
Enjoy life! This is not a dress rehearsal.
I was thinking more James Bond Skyfall myself.
When shit hits the fan get some of these https://youtu.be/pY-GncsZ-UE
affects a coy smile