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Security Lapse Exposed New York Airport's Critical Servers For a Year (zdnet.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from ZDNet: A security lapse at a New York international airport left its server backups exposed on the open internet for almost a year, ZDNet has found. The internet-connected storage drive contained several backup images of servers used by Stewart International Airport, but neither the backup drive nor the disk images were password protected, allowing anyone to access their contents. Since April last year, the airport had been inadvertently leaking its own highly-sensitive files as a result of the drive's misconfiguration. Vickery, who also posted an analysis of his findings, said the drive "was, in essence, acting as a public web server" because the airport was backing up unprotected copies of its systems to a Buffalo-branded drive, installed by a contract third-party IT specialist. When contacted Thursday, the contractor dismissed the claims and would not comment further. Though the listing still appears on Shodan, the search engine for unprotected devices and databases, the drive has since been secured. The files contained eleven disk images, accounting for hundreds of gigabytes of files and folders, which when mounted included dozens of airport staff email accounts, sensitive human resources files, interoffice memos, payroll data, and what appears to be a large financial tracking database. Many of the files we reviewed include "confidential" internal airport documents, which contain schematics and details of other core infrastructure.
Now there's an enterprise class backup solution! I take it this "IT specialist" was promoted from the ranks of Yahoo.
"National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
As an independent IT specialist myself, you can't believe the boneheaded clients that will either demand an uncomplicated "no password" policy, fail to follow directions or too cheap to update or go in and make these type of setting themselves after the fact.
Could easily be that the IT contractor set it up for a particular IP range and then the customer wanted to do something from home or allow remote workers, saw the bill and said "removing this line makes it work", became the office IT fixer and then at their next employee review "I saved the company $15000/year in consulting cost".
There are plenty of idiots in IT, but the cheap-skate know-it-all customers are way worse. I think computers and "IoT" devices should go back to defaulting to a command prompt only accessible by serial cable or local terminal and bring nothing online unless explicitly configured.
Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
This is short for "My cousin Vinnie's 13 year old son. He's a whiz at these things"
Barron is really good at the cyber
Pain is merely failure leaving the body
No.
As an IT guy myself, I would have (and did -- now retired) talked to anyone who would listen, including managing partners, and insisted on implementing best practices.
Then I would send an email to the whomevers and let them reject my recommendations for the record.
Business makes the final call. but I always covered my ass and had evidence that installations were to their specs, despite having been warned.
If the install was something they'd never actually have to manage, I'd change the admin password to one of my own and never tell a soul..
Later, when another tech from another firm came on site to do shit, I'd just tell them, "Dunno ... maybe a factory reset?"
It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
I used to do the same. I don't any more. After being thrown under the bus for doing EXACTLY what the customer said, against my recommendations(documented no less), no thank you.
WHICH happens to be a great way to make your point even stronger. Telling a customer "no, I won't" gets them to think, perhaps a little. I've had a couple people ask me why I won't, and basically say, "When the shit hits the fan, I don't want to be involved, don't want to clean the mess up, and don't want to take the fall for anyone but me".
I now use a phrase that sums up everything perfectly. "Good IT is expensive, bad IT is costly".
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
I've been flown out of Stewart a couple of times. It's the departure point for New York area Federal prisoners bound for FTC Oklahoma City and other points. The US Marshals drive buses and vans from all over the area (MDC Brooklyn, MCC Manhattan, Danbury, Ft. Dix, etc.) every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon to Stewart to meet a white, unmarked JPATS jet (737 or MD-80). Prisoners are usually in paper jumpsuits, shackled ankles, wrists, and waist, and are patted down on the apron next to the jet.
Transfer takes place next to the NY Air National Guard helicopter hangars. Perimeter security consists of four or five US Marshals with 12-gauge shotguns or M4/M16 rifles and sidearms. Transfer time takes about 90 minutes, unless there's a mechanical problem with the plane, which is more often than not.
High-value prisoners (e.g., a Whitey Bulger or a convicted terrorist) are not transported with the general population.
BTW, the buses are unmarked intercity (i.e., Greyhound) buses. You can tell they're FBOP because there's a separate door on the left side at the back for a US Marshall who sits in a caged seat with a shotgun, along with a GPS antenna in an external dome on the roof over the drivers' compartment. Side windows are tinted black.
k.