Posted on Sep 23, 2016
Leaked NSA Hacking Tools Were 'Mistakenly' Left By An Agent On A Remote Server
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I missed this article yesterday but it's a bit odd that a "former" employee is being blamed for something the NSA is suggesting happened 3 years ago. Did it take Natasha and Boris this long to figure the tools out?
Leaked NSA Hacking Tools Were 'Mistakenly' Left By An Agent On A Remote Server
Posted from thehackernews.com
Hacking
Cybersecurity
Technology
Computer Networking
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 2
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I have to laugh when I see these articles. The titles are almost always misleading.
The NSA wasn't hacked. It's been confirmed that they do have remote facilities, but the information on those servers is limited at best. None of them are in contact with the main facility in MD; which has no outside connections for just this reason.
Did Russia hack the civilian computers that vets DoD civilian personnel? Yep. Russia has the names, ranks, pay information, family information, credit history, and everything else you'd expect on the SF86 for everyone. Why was this information on a civilian server? Because outsourcing.
A three year old set of tools? They might have some use in those areas of the government where they're still using XP and older operating systems because of one reason or another, and have connections to the internet. Especially if no one has updated the firmware.
Oh yeah, whenever you see "former employee" in reference to the NSA it usually means a contractor, or I'm sorry to say, a member of the military who took a tour at Ft. Meade. Usually the former, but the latter with increasing frequency in recent years. (That's not a knock against the military by the way. It's a reflection of the quality of people who are joining - conscientious objectors, "I'm only here for the college money", and your various other types lacking in intestinal fortitude.)
The NSA wasn't hacked. It's been confirmed that they do have remote facilities, but the information on those servers is limited at best. None of them are in contact with the main facility in MD; which has no outside connections for just this reason.
Did Russia hack the civilian computers that vets DoD civilian personnel? Yep. Russia has the names, ranks, pay information, family information, credit history, and everything else you'd expect on the SF86 for everyone. Why was this information on a civilian server? Because outsourcing.
A three year old set of tools? They might have some use in those areas of the government where they're still using XP and older operating systems because of one reason or another, and have connections to the internet. Especially if no one has updated the firmware.
Oh yeah, whenever you see "former employee" in reference to the NSA it usually means a contractor, or I'm sorry to say, a member of the military who took a tour at Ft. Meade. Usually the former, but the latter with increasing frequency in recent years. (That's not a knock against the military by the way. It's a reflection of the quality of people who are joining - conscientious objectors, "I'm only here for the college money", and your various other types lacking in intestinal fortitude.)
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(Join to see)
Oh, sometimes the titles are very misleading- but they do the job of encouraging people to read them and hopefully look for other related information. After all, I'm not CNN :D
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Barry Davidson
(Join to see) - Touché... I still think too many people are looking for hens in the hen house instead of looking for the weasel that's stealing the eggs.
In order for a classified system to be exploitable you wither have to have direct access to it, or it has to be connected to a vulnerable network. If people were truly worried about their private information they'd have disowned Google, among others, years ago. After all, they know more about you than the government does unless you've filled out SF-86, and gone through the colonoscopy that is TS. Even then, Google knows what porn sites you look at while the government doesn't give a damn unless it's on their dime or illegal. Hell, my phone recently started texting me my drive time to work. Never told it to, nor did I ever search the directions.
In order for a classified system to be exploitable you wither have to have direct access to it, or it has to be connected to a vulnerable network. If people were truly worried about their private information they'd have disowned Google, among others, years ago. After all, they know more about you than the government does unless you've filled out SF-86, and gone through the colonoscopy that is TS. Even then, Google knows what porn sites you look at while the government doesn't give a damn unless it's on their dime or illegal. Hell, my phone recently started texting me my drive time to work. Never told it to, nor did I ever search the directions.
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