Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn Had 'Forbidden' Internet Connection At the Pentagon, Says Report (businessinsider.com)

According to The New Yorker, President-elect Donald Trump's national security advisor, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, installed a secret internet connection into his office at the Pentagon even though it was "forbidden." Business Insider reports: The network connection was among other rules the former chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency broke because he found them to be "stupid," including sometimes sneaking out of a CIA station in Iraq without authorization and sharing classified information with NATO allies without approval, according to The New Yorker. While Flynn -- who was recently tapped to be President-elect Donald Trump's national security adviser -- apparently had his own private connection, the New Yorker profile doesn't provide a clear picture as to why. It's likely his Pentagon office already had an authorized, unclassified connection to the internet called NIPRNet, which is separate from classified networks such as SIPRNet and JWICS, a former DIA analyst told Business Insider. All of those networks are monitored in some way. A separate, unknown network would not have had the same -- or possibly any -- level of monitoring. If it were implemented in secret, it would also not have the same protections from hackers that a known connection would have. It's also possible that Flynn's Pentagon office was known as a SCIF, or sensitive compartmented information facility -- a secure facility in which intelligence can be discussed without fear of it being compromised. Network connections in SCIFs are closely controlled, and outside electronics such as mobile phones are not allowed inside.

Comments

One rule for them and another for us

[dbIII]

One rule for them and another for us.
Hillary using email doesn't sound so bad in comparison now does it?


Yes I know Hillary is old news and did far worse things than her email server, but I could not resist a smug "I told you so".

sharing classified information with NATO allies without approval

That's actually more serious than Snowden's leak to reporters who are US citizens.

Re:One rule for them and another for us

[Maxwell'sSilverLART]

I think you might be forgetting the bit where Hillary allowed her housekeeper--who isn't even a citizen, let alone cleared--into the SCIF in her home.

Face it: they're "both" corrupt as a three-week-old fish.

Re:Nice to see we'll be in better hands

[Anonymous Coward]

We had Patraeus convicted

Petraeus was literally handing bound volumes of above top secret information over in exchange for sex. Clinton was being lazy with e-mail security and far less classified data. Petraeus got a tiny slap on the wrist. Petraeus is a perfect example of why it was hypocritical for the republicans to go after Clinton like that. He's also a good explanation for why it's true that no sane prosecutor would go after Clinton for what she did.

Let me tell you a story about NIPRnet

[Spazmania]

I was called in to help debug a problem with a server running on the NIPR. It seemed several out of every 100 TCP connections it made to the Internet failed inexplicably. An application level retry would immediately succeed but if you let the original TCP socket retry it kept on failing to connect.

So I investigated and it turned out about 2% of TCP -source- ports in the ephemeral range were blocked. Any TCP packet using those originating ports simply failed to arrive at the other side.

So, tracked down the firewall admin at Pearl and she explained that yes, they blocked those ports because they were commonly used by malware. Ports like 1234.

Okay, so even if I buy that that's reasonable, it would only apply to TCP -destination- ports, not TCP source ports. Went back and forth, back and forth. Eventually gave up and hacked the server to avoid the filtered TCP source ports.

And that level of incompetence is why I totally understand anyone who wants a direct Internet connection.

Then again, as someone involved in the Intelligence community he might just have wanted a commercial connection whose IP address wasn't associated with the military for some of his communications. You know, basic opsec.

Re:Let me tell you a story about NIPRnet

[Spazmania]

Auditors grade the state department's unclassified email system every year. By all reports, Clinton's email server was substantially more secure.

She was careless with classified information, I don't cheer that, but I absolutely cheer her choice to use her own, better secured email server for routine unclassified communication. And I roar with delight that she was willing to buck the bureaucracy doing it when nearly every other politician knuckles under to what the bureaucrats tell them they must do.