U.S. State Department suffers widespread computer break-ins

[donsu]

http://news.tmcnet.com/news/2006/07/11/1710934.htm


The State Department is recovering from large-scale computer break-ins worldwide over the past several weeks that appeared to target its headquarters and offices dealing with China and North Korea, The Associated Press has learned.

Investigators believe hackers stole sensitive U.S. information and passwords and implanted backdoors in unclassified government computers to allow them to return at will, said U.S. officials familiar with the hacking. These people spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the widespread intrusions and the resulting investigation.

The break-ins and the State Department's emergency response severely limited Internet access at many locations, including some headquarters offices in Washington, these officials said. Internet connections have been restored across nearly all the department since the break-ins were recognized in mid-June.

-snip-

China's government was considered by experts a chief suspect in computer break-ins at the Defense Department and other U.S. agencies disclosed last summer. But China also is home to a large number of insecure computers and networks that hackers in other countries could use to disguise their locations and launch attacks.
-snip-
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[htuttle]

1. Don't forget the punchline

From March:
State Department computer purchase from China draws fire
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/03/23/business/lenovo.php

From May:
State department reverses itself on use of Chinese computers
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0506/051806tdpm1.htm

They assure us, however, that none of the Chinese computers was used to handle classified information. They probably just used them for unclassifed tasks, like running the firewalls, etc...:eyes:

[donsu]

2. lol - I forgot about that

nt

[Virginia Dare]

3. Chinese military....

they are getting quite good at hacking. They are spending lots of money and resources on developing cyber-attacks. If we're not spending equal amounts on countering them, they potentially could bring us to our knees without ever firing a weapon.