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December 5, 2006
Outside access to Pentagon email accounts may be shut down
MAJOR CLARIFICATION: It appears that only remote access to email has been suspended. Perhaps the hackers gained access via remote web access, something like Microsoft Webmail. Original post follows:
A tipster notes that Pentagon email has been restricted to sending and receiving to other Pentagon accounts. No messages from other domains may enter the system. This measure has been instituted because a foreign government hacked the Pentagon's computer systems.
I'm not sure if this includes all dot.mil accounts or only certain domains.
Looking for confirmation elsewhere . . .
UPDATE: Looks like the hackers were Chinese. Strategypage reported this several days ago:
December 4, 2006: For the third time in five months, Chinese based hackers attacked a Department of Defense computer network. In mid-November, the U.S. Navy's War College had to shut down it's computer network because, as one instructor explained to his class, Chinese hackers had gotten in, and the Naval War College servers had to be scrutinized to see what was taken, changed or left behind. The is the latest of several attacks on Department of Defense computers, that could be traced back to China.Perhaps the damage is wider than they thought. The information I received was very specific that email accounts in the Pentagon itself will not be receiving messages from outside domains for the time being.
Portions of The Adventures of Chester Open Source Analysis Policy may apply to this post. If you need to contact me, my email address is in the sidebar.
UPDATE: Here's more info on the original attack.
Posted by Chester at December 5, 2006 10:38 AM
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Comments
The college will probably have to replace all the computers affected by the attack, Paller said. “That’s the only confidence-building measure step you can take,” he said.
'Confidence-building measure'?
Oh, dear lord... this isn't 'confidence-building', it's rank superstition.
“When very professional people get through your defenses, their ability to hide is much greater than your ability to find them.”
Finding what they did is interesting and useful, but it is not necessary to do so in order to sanitize the machine. You format the drive and re-flash the BIOS, and whatever was 'hidden' is now gone.
DOD IT personnel should know these things. I suspect they are keeping their mouths shud because they see an opportunity to get their hands on shiny new kit (something few geeks have the willpower to resist).
The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security replaced hundreds of computers after recent network attacks. The bureau is responsible for deciding which technologies should be available for export to countries such as China.
Hmmmmm....
Posted by: rosignol at December 8, 2006 8:01 AM