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China Denies Responsibility For US Government Data Breach
schwit1 writes: On Friday, Beijing responded to allegations from Washington that China was responsible for a cyberattack on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management that compromised the personal data of some 4 million government employees. The accusations, China's foreign ministry said, are "irresponsible" and "groundless." The OPM breach is the latest in a string of cyber 'incidents' that have coincidentally occurred in the wake of the Pentagon's new cyber strategy.
ZeroHedge argues, "Whether or not the most recent virtual attack on the U.S. did indeed emanate from China or one of Washington's other so-called "cyberadversaries" (the list includes Iran, Russia, and North Korea) will likely never be known the public, but rest assured the blame will be placed with a state actor so as to ensure the DoD has some precedent to refer to when, for whatever reason, the Pentagon decides it's time to deploy an "offensive" cyberattack later on down the road."
Irrespective of where the attack originated, it appears obsolete technology was ultimately to blame, because as Bloomberg reports, "Einstein" wasn't much help in preventing the intrusion: "It's behind schedule, the result of inter-agency fights over privacy, control and other matters, and only about half of the government was protected when the hackers raided OPM's databases last December. It's also, by the government's own admission, already obsolete. Over the last several months, U.S. officials have said that perimeter-based defenses such as Einstein, even backed by the National Security Agency's own corps of hackers, can never prevent break-ins."
ZeroHedge argues, "Whether or not the most recent virtual attack on the U.S. did indeed emanate from China or one of Washington's other so-called "cyberadversaries" (the list includes Iran, Russia, and North Korea) will likely never be known the public, but rest assured the blame will be placed with a state actor so as to ensure the DoD has some precedent to refer to when, for whatever reason, the Pentagon decides it's time to deploy an "offensive" cyberattack later on down the road."
Irrespective of where the attack originated, it appears obsolete technology was ultimately to blame, because as Bloomberg reports, "Einstein" wasn't much help in preventing the intrusion: "It's behind schedule, the result of inter-agency fights over privacy, control and other matters, and only about half of the government was protected when the hackers raided OPM's databases last December. It's also, by the government's own admission, already obsolete. Over the last several months, U.S. officials have said that perimeter-based defenses such as Einstein, even backed by the National Security Agency's own corps of hackers, can never prevent break-ins."
the word "irresponsible" doesn't mean what you think it does.
First link is kinda irrelevant unless they're accusing Washington weather of causing the cruise ship to overturn on the Yangtze.
I think I read that the US government hasn't actually come out and accused China, it has been the news that has made the allegations citing unnamed officials.
China denies responsibility. So what?
They'd never admit to anything, nor would the US government, if they possibly could.
The shock would be if one of them were to take responsibility.
Seriously, what else is new? China will deny anything by default, as they always do. Not that they're the only ones playing this game - remember that Clapper fellow? or the russian tsar^H forever president?
As for the ZH comment, that's clown reasoning. Since when did the DoD need a precedent for cyberwarfare?
What matters is that the ongoing incompetence of the federal government permitted it to happen.
I'll say again, instead of getting the NSA to anally probe your own people utterly violating the 4th amendment... why don't you task your teams of tamed hackers to strengthen security throughout the government's computer systems?
They know how to breach systems so they know how to secure them. All they have to do is make the system so tough that even they couldn't get into them. And task a few of them to literally try to emperically test whether the security has literally arrived advanced to that point.
This is not an unreasonable standard.
If the NSA can breach your systems than so can the chinese probably. So if you want to keep the chinese out... make it tough enough that the NSA can't get in.
Any excuses should be met with summary executions. Just pistol to the temple and a query for any further questions?
Seriously though... the bad security is not acceptable. And without some drastic changes in culture, the systems will remain open books to any nation or even many criminal organizations that want in for any reason.
That's pathetic.
And a big part of the issue is that we're not putting technical people in charge of security.
Look, you wouldn't a guy without experience running warships in charge of the Navy would you? Would you put someone with no experience flying airplanes in charge of the air force? Then why are we putting non-computer experts in charge of computer systems?
They don't know what the fuck they're doing. Its like putting an accountant in charge of the Marines or putting the Marines in charge of a law firm. It doesn't make any sense. Stop doing that.
If you're having a hard time finding someone with command chops in the technical fields, then do what you do in every other branch of the government when you encounter that exact problem. Have a training program where in your people can get promoted into management. Why is this rocket science? The government understand this everywhere else in largely flawlessly. You need someone to run some aspect of the justice department? You promote someone with skills from within the department that understands LAW and law enforcement.
The ongoing idiocy of my entire culture... forget the government because the corporations are little better in most cases... it is shocking. They almost never put people that understand the tech in charge of the actual f'ing machines.
They understand they need to hire a lawyer to run the legal department. They understand they have to hire an accountant to run the Accounting department. They understand they have to hire a marketing guy to run the marketing department. But when it comes to IT? Well you can use anyone apparently. Put an accountant in charge... or a lawyer... or a marketing guy... or whatever. A fucking bag of dead kittens would appear to be sufficient.
The governments and big corps will say "but it will be really expensive to fix our problems"... it is only expensive because you've deferred maintenance for a million years. That like saying you can't fix the roof that has rotted out because that will be expensive. You fix that roof. You maintain that roof. You do not fuck with the roofing guys when they're telling you what has to happen. Because you know and understand that failing to do it means you get rained on.
The computer systems are the same thing. Only you only notice there is a problem if you know enough to notice or if there is a huge fucking disaster. If neither applies then people can be oblivious. WHich is possibly the attraction of people that don't know what they're doing... they can be oblivious.
I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
Is for the US to punch back twice as hard. I would suggest having the NSA pillage their military system and then do a data dump at nsa.gov/china/fuckyou.torrent
"it appears obsolete technology was ultimately to blame, because as Bloomberg reports, "Einstein" wasn't much help in preventing the intrusion"
We all know exactly what technology was to blame. And we all know that any kind of 'counter-hacking system' tacked onto a fundementally insecure Operating System is bound to fail. When all it takes to bypass is clicking on a URL or opening an email attachment.
Democrats immediately blamed Republicans saying they wouldn't spend enough:
"The latest intrusion points to the need for Congress to pass a cybersecurity bill, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said....Congress has yet to act on the personnel agency’s Feb. 2 request for a $32 million budget increase"
And of course, Republicans blamed the lack of leadership:
“Where is the leadership? The federal government has just been hit by one of the largest thefts of sensitive data in history, and this White House is trying blame anyone but itself. It’s absolutely disgusting.”
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
They're protecting the Bush Crime Family that is paying them to do this.
Are there any links to actual technical details regarding the hack.
So, they're only now acknowledging that perimeter security alone cannot prevent security failures?
And these are security experts?
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
NSA vs. the IRS in a hack-off. Whichever organization does the better job of gutting the other gets to absorb the others' tasking.
We've got to do something about this federal hydra. Having the heads attack each other is at least worth trying.
Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
That is ridiculous for them to leave-out the fact that files implicating the Bush Crime Family are being searched for and deleted. As usual, the media protects the Bush organization and never prints a bad word about them.
Oh! If only the government had destroyed even more freedom and tightened the surveillance state! When will we ever learn?
The yanks that is
bow low and genuflect to your new Asian overlord - silly Amelicans!
Seriously? They absolutely would not hire me because I have practical experience which blacklists me from being hired by them.
OK, totally.
They have second stringers, at best.
That settles it, doesn't it?
The requisite denial by China says it all.
Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
Scratch Huawei anything and you'll see Nortel & PRC military markings under it.
Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
"the Pentagon decides it's time to deploy an "offensive" cyberattack later on down the road." lets drop that bull right off the bat. The correct statement should read ' When the Pentagon again gets caught deploying "offensive" cyberattacks". They have already been exposed all over the place. The law is categorically clear, hacking into networks, espionage, is an attack and the US has been exposed attacking every one, every single person on the planet on every single network on the planet. From US politicians investigating them, to some geek hunting for aliens, to some kid copying software, to political leaders emails to corporations trade secrets, well, to every single possible digital communications.
There is just no way the US government can deny all attacks are payback for what they have done and continue to do. Other countries have just remained silent about catching the US and just quietly feeding them lots and lots of false data.
The new game will be interesting. Foreign governments who understand the corrupt nature of the US government know the most effective counter attack will simply be to expose the corruption of the US government and it's corporations to the US and global public and, to throw those hugely destructive elements into chaotic turmoil. Not only for what those corrupt elements do on the job but for the even worse stuff they do off the job (corrupt at work also means being corruptly sick at play, it is just in their nature).
Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
Dear America,
If it wasn't your attack on Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq back in 2003, the people of the middle eastern region wouldn't have to go through all such horrific bullshit
Apparently you can't even own up to the word "responsibility" so please spare the rest of the world of your hypocrisy. Take your own lecture on 'irresponsibility and show it up to where the sun never shines
Are you sure it doesn't matter who did it?
The Obama Administration came out and blamed China, even before they had all the facts
The whole episode smells of another false flag
This looks more like an inside job orchestrated to place blame on China (apparently China has become Hussein Obama's favorite bogeyman) to allow Obama to declare an all out war on China (they even use the word adversary to characterize China)
It won't be long before America's full attack on China begin. I guess it will happen before Obama is supposed to leave the White House, and that "full scale war against an adversary" might allow Hussein Obama to continue to be the POTUS as long as the war goes on
If the push comes to shove they can always show you a logfile that they've cooked up, filled with all kinds of obvious clues of how those evil Chinese hacked into our systems
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/...
Defense Secretary Ashton Carter spoke to technology leaders in Palo Alto, California, in April, tossing around ideas for recruiting engineers for temporary missions in government and meeting with Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg.
Why is the defense sec talking to Zuckerberg? How long until you have to have a FB account to log onto the "Internet".
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
Gov't lost its own records, so they hired hackers to help them find 'em.
That bogeyman approach works, and it works splendidly!
You only have to read the comments in this thread to see how many of the fools are already completely decked up awaiting for the chance of the full scale war against China
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
So that they can know from what sort of IP range and what facilities would an attack comes from, but far more probably because they have their own attack going on, with system compromised in China by the USA, and in some of those packet back are spying information included.
Why on earth is SlashDot quoting from ZeroHedge, a site that is well known to be a propaganda operation of the Soviet Information Bureau, run out of the Kremlin?
was definately the nsa
http://www.theguardian.com/boo...
it's why the rest of the world stopped buying electronic goods from the us almost overnight.