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NYU Accidentally Exposed Military Code-breaking Computer Project To Entire Internet (theintercept.com)

Posted by msmash on from the what's-happening dept.

An anonymous reader writes: A confidential computer project designed to break military codes was accidentally made public by New York University engineers. An anonymous digital security researcher identified files related to the project while hunting for things on the internet that shouldn't be, The Intercept reported. He used a program called Shodan, a search engine for internet-connected devices, to locate the project. It is the product of a joint initiative by NYU's Institute for Mathematics and Advanced Supercomputing, headed by the world-renowned Chudnovsky brothers, David and Gregory, the Department of Defense, and IBM. Information on an exposed backup drive described the supercomputer, called -- WindsorGreen -- as a system capable of cracking passwords.

9 of 75 comments (clear)

  1. Surprised by p51d007 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Anything like this was even connected on the "internet".

    1. Re:Surprised by rmdingler · · Score: 2

      Probably a back door left open that was used during development, initially including a redundant air-gap that some researcher got tired of connecting and disconnecting... it's not just the Muggles who're lazy.

      --
      Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

      Ernest Hemingway

    2. Re:Surprised by _xeno_ · · Score: 4, Informative

      If I'm reading the article correctly, the computer itself wasn't, the Slashdot headline is at best misleading. What was connected to the Internet was a backup drive containing documents that describe the password cracking computer.

      It's actually somewhat unclear if they even built the thing, these are more planning documents that describe how they would. If it exists, it presumably is properly isolated from the Internet, given that it's supposed to be used only by DOD and intelligence agencies.

      --
      You are in a maze of twisty little relative jumps, all alike.
    3. Re:Surprised by DickBreath · · Score: 4, Funny

      Don't be surprised. I'm sure they used an air gap. The air gap was in between some manager's ears.

      --

      I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
    4. Re:Surprised by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 2

      Or the leak was part of a disinformation campaign to make OpFor think we have something when we actually don't.

  2. Re:Oh noes! by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 2

    Where can i haz this Shodan-"Program"??

    You can't, you pathetic creature of meat and bone.

  3. "Shouldn't be?" by hackel · · Score: 2

    Anything developed using tax dollars MUST be made open source and freely available to all. It absolutely should, and *must*, be available on the internet.

    1. Re:"Shouldn't be?" by mspohr · · Score: 2

      Sounds like it already is...

      --
      I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
    2. Re:"Shouldn't be?" by will_die · · Score: 2

      No it does not. That is covered under 17 USC 105
      For most, but there are a bunch of exception, the US Government does not have copyright permission however they are protected by other laws, in addition the government is not required to publish or distribute most material.
      In this case where the software was written by a non-government entity there would be a copyright from that and then it was either transferred to the US government, in which case the US Government holds the copyright, or it was licensed in which case the writers hold it and license usage to the US Government.