U.S. Defense Officials Still Concerned About Data Lost in 2007 Network Attack

["Paul Ferguson" <fergdawg () netzero net>]

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Via GovExec.

[snip]

A June 2007 network intrusion at the Pentagon resulted in the theft of an
"amazing amount" of data, and the incident remains a national security
concern, a top Defense Department technology official said this week.

The Office of the Secretary of Defense detected malicious code in various
portions of its network infrastructure while consolidating information
technology resources in the middle of last year. Over the course of two
months, the code infiltrated multiple systems, culminating in an intrusion
that created havoc by exploiting a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows, said
Dennis Clem, OSD's chief information officer.

During the attack, spoofed e-mails containing recognizable names were sent
to OSD employees. When they opened the messages, user IDs and passwords
that unlocked the entire network were stolen; as a result, sensitive data
housed on Defense systems was accessed, copied and sent back to the
intruder.

"This was a very bad day," said Clem during a panel discussion at the
Information Processing Interagency Conference Tuesday. The breach continues
to pose a threat, he added. "We don't know when they'll use the information
they stole, [which was] an amazing amount, [including] processes and
procedures that will be valuable to adversaries."

[snip]

More:
http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=39456

- - ferg

Hat-tip: dissent

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--
"Fergie", a.k.a. Paul Ferguson
 Engineering Architecture for the Internet
 fergdawg(at)netzero.net
 ferg's tech blog: http://fergdawg.blogspot.com/


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