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Hackers Who Hit CIA Director Break Into Law Enforcement Tools (wired.com)

Posted by Soulskill on from the relatedly-you're-all-under-arrest dept.

An anonymous reader writes: The same group of hackers who hacked into the personal email account of CIA director John Brennan have now exploited a vulnerability to gain access to a private law enforcement portal. They demonstrated access to a system called JABS — the Joint Automated Booking System — which is a database of arrest records. "It was through the vulnerable law enforcement portal that the hackers say they also obtained a list of about 3,000 names, titles, email addresses and phone numbers for government employees that they posted to Pastebin on Thursday. The posting, which they indicated was just "Part 1" of a presumably multi-part leak, consisted of a snippet of an alphabetical list of government employees working for the FBI and other federal agencies as well as various local police and sheriff departments around the country. It included job titles, email addresses and phone numbers."

8 of 35 comments (clear)

  1. Fine Example. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is really one of the bigger reasons to NOT want the government collecting every little tidbit it can on you under the disguise of "national security". Even if THEY actually have no ill intentions with the data, things like this prove that they don't have their own shit together enough to protect that data from hackers/criminals/etc.

    I'd find it rather hilarious if the exploit used was one of those the NSA knew about and decided to keep secret so they could exploit it themselves rather than get it reported and patched.

    1. Re:Fine Example. by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 4, Insightful

      This is really one of the bigger reasons to NOT want the government collecting every little tidbit it can on you under the disguise of "national security". Even if THEY actually have no ill intentions with the data, things like this prove that they don't have their own shit together enough to protect that data from hackers/criminals/etc.

      That may very well be the point - but, if so, they should be saying that explicitly (and keep doing so!). I have no confidence that the general public is going to figure it out on their own.

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    2. Re:Fine Example. by CaptainDork · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Actually, my working theory is that the general public HAS figured it out.

      You and I have the same tools as the big guys. One thing we have that they don't is a sense of paranoia. This guy had a non-government email and either jumped a phishing link or had predictable two-level secret questions guarding the gate.

      Having hacked into the "freemail," the hacker examined the contents for clues and hit pay dirt on an exploit or took advantage of reused passwords.

      I am not a hacker and neither are you, but we could be. It's not hard work to move from where we are, technically, to that skill level.

      There are many more people outside any governments than there are on the inside.

      The theory of probability and statistics implies that there are smarter people among the masses than there are smart people working for the government.

      We're all using the same machinery, the same skills, the same software ... it's a level playing field and everyone has a gun.

      Some of us just don't load up.

      --
      It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
  2. Re:*Someone* is trying to keep our gov't accountab by CaptainDork · · Score: 3, Insightful

    You're missing the point of the whole goddam event.

    Hackers hit a "freemail" and, from there, wormed their way to important shit.

    The government (and businesses, and you, and me) are not competent enough to stop phishing schemes or plug all the goddam holes in the crapware tech vendors have been handing out for years.

    --
    It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
  3. If only by penguinoid · · Score: 4, Funny

    If only we had some agency that specialized in security.

    --
    Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
  4. If only by AndyKron · · Score: 3, Funny

    If only the government had a backdoor...

  5. Re:Well done by KGIII · · Score: 2

    Their "resisting arrest" is almost a certainty at this point.

    Don't worry, a quick review will be done and the officer's actions deemed legitimate.

    --
    "So long and thanks for all the fish."
  6. OPSEC by godel_56 · · Score: 2

    From TFA,"One U.S. official said the hackers managed to cover their tracks well, but the official expressed confidence they would be found."

    If they are found it will probably be through someone shooting their mouth off on a web site rather than by tracing them through some technical means. If you're going do to this kind of naughty then you really need to STFU. It will be interesting to see if the hackers can maintain their discipline.