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Nuclear weapons agency breached amid massive cyber onslaught

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Re: Nuclear weapons agency breached amid massive cyber onslaught

#91
post #7

Bit of a misleading title by Reuters. They accessed the business networks of the NNSA, the agency responsible for maintaining the nuclear stockpile, but did not access the networks managing the actual nuclear weapons, as the title half-implies. There was no threat of random nuclear weapon exploits, those networks have not been compromised as far as we know.

Yea, also, who would build a nuclear bomb that could be detonated via the internet? I would be outright shocked if there wasn’t a mechanical part of the process... eg, in the early days, they literally had the warhead and bomb parts physically separated

Re: Nuclear weapons agency breached amid massive cyber onslaught

#92
post #7

Bit of a misleading title by Reuters. They accessed the business networks of the NNSA, the agency responsible for maintaining the nuclear stockpile, but did not access the networks managing the actual nuclear weapons, as the title half-implies. There was no threat of random nuclear weapon exploits, those networks have not been compromised as far as we know.

There is an odd quirk in our culture, where lying is universally acknowledged to be toxic behavior, but the use of intentionally misleading language is merely frowned upon--as long as it doesn't contain a falsifiable claim. But this is really a distinction without a difference, as they achieve the same goal, which is to put an idea in the mind of the listener/reader which the speaker/writer knows to be false. After all, lying isn't what got us into the current era of a post-truth public discourse. What got us here is a historical and ongoing toleration of journos and politicians who are careful truth tellers in a technical sense, but liars in practice.

In my opinion, these liars-in-practice are far more pernicious than the liars-in-fact. It's easy to disprove a fact, whereas it takes time, effort, and some analytical ability to unpack a carefully worded untruth.

Apologies for the rant.

Re: Nuclear weapons agency breached amid massive cyber onslaught

#94

Why is all of this important stuff just hanging off the internet like it's a public webserver in a data center?

So that they can get software updates.

It's kind of a lovely paradox -- connect to get software updates, but if you didn't connect you wouldn't need updates.

Re: Nuclear weapons agency breached amid massive cyber onslaught

#97

The good news is that US nuclear weapon silos are stuck with 1970s technology. https://slate.com/technology/2014/04/huge-floppy-disks-and-o...

This is no longer the case, they’ve since upgraded: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/24/us/nuclear-weapons-floppy...

Re: Nuclear weapons agency breached amid massive cyber onslaught

#98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Considering the OPM hack under the predecessor provided information on every person with a security clearance, I don't think it is quite fair to blame one as this sadly seems to be par for the course. I'm sure the incoming octogenarian will understand the series of tubes better...

Good to know the buck doesn't stop at the presidency anymore. Guess it's just a free for all.

Information security is a boondoggle for high levels anywhere as there are no repercussions for failure. Neither CEOs nor high level government officials give it the respect it is due because it is expected and they can all point the blame somewhere else and feel no pain. Compare export control laws that have individual implications that a company cannot cover in the case of a violation, while cyber security breaches have no similar penalty. If a law were made to impose fines of 2-3 times the total compensation package of C-level management for one or more years including unvested stocks and unexercised options, then I'm sure we would see security departments expand rapidly as a CYA. The buck should stop at the top, but without laws to force the issue, it won't.

Re: Nuclear weapons agency breached amid massive cyber onslaught

#99

The solarwinds hack gets more expansive every time we find out more. This really doesn't bode well.

Yea, what concerns me is the sophistication of the attack, and just how widespread the damage/fallout is. The attack very good cover, while everyone scrambles to limit exposure and not sure exactly what to look for.

Re: Nuclear weapons agency breached amid massive cyber onslaught

#100
post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The studio system is shut down and blockbusters aren't coming back. Movies are going straight to streaming. Disney and Warner are doing far-reaching reorgs to see to it. Look also at directors like Nolan and Villeneuve complaining - they know their familiar way of life is coming to an end, and they're struggling to cope with the new reality. Low-budget is something we'll get schooled on. International studios are jus…

China owns 40% of epic games? --- EDIT: wow, that's "unreal" ( excuse the pun ) ... what a sell out Epic games!

Tencent own stakes in a lot of gaming, film and music companies. If you enjoy Western content there's a strong chance a chunk of the profits go to China.
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