Hacks!
June 23rd, 2007As if the American Government hasn’t given us enough reason to doubt its competence and our safety in the last half a dozen years this happened.
The U.S. Department of Defense took an estimated 1,500 computers offline Wednesday after a security breach within the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD). “Elements of the OSD unclassified e-mail system were taken offline yesterday afternoon, due to a detected penetration,” Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said, according to the transcript of a Thursday press conference. “A variety of precautionary measures are being taken. We expect the system to be online again very soon.”
Department of Defense officials had little more to say about the attack, Thursday, and would not confirm the number of systems that had been taken offline. The Pentagon is exposed to “perhaps hundreds of attacks a day,” and the department has back up systems in place, Gates said. “There is no anticipated adverse impact on ongoing operations,” he added. “There will be some administrative disruptions and personal inconveniences”
However, it looks like the secretary himself will not be inconvenienced. “I don’t do e-mail,” he said in response to a question. “I’m a very low-tech person.”
Maybe they’ll move the DOD’s email to the Republican National Committee’s server and call it a day? (Whatever happened, or however often this happens, I hope all’s well. It really worries me, though, to think of what could go wrong with such a penetration.)
Further on Hacks!, there’s this,
President Bush this week vetoed legislation that would have lifted limits on federally funded research on embryonic stem cells. Angry congressional advocates immediately pledged to override the veto (although they acknowledge they are still shy of the two thirds majority needed) and took new steps to free up federal monies for such research, which holds the promise of new treatments for debilitating diseases from Parkinson’s to diabetes.
which is not good news. What bothers me more is the fact that there isn’t a 2/3rd majority to override his veto in the House. I guess the old adage — “I am not a member of an organized political party. I am a Democra!” — holds true here.
Finally, the US expects the IAEA and North Korea to shut down that country’s nuclear program in the next three weeks. At least, they’re shutting down a reactor. It’s worth monitoring — the reactor, and the shutdown.