Report: Hackers break into Pentagon's fighter jet project

[OhioChick]

Source: Computer World

They downloaded terabytes of data on a $300B stealth fighter

April 21, 2009 (IDG News Service) Hackers broke into U.S. Department of Defense computers and downloaded terabytes of data containing design information about the Joint Strike Fighter, a $300 billion stealth fighter currently under development, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The stolen files all relate to the design of the Joint Strike Fighter and its electronic systems, the Journal reported, saying they could be used to help defend against the jet.

However, the most sensitive files were not compromised because they are stored on computers that are not connected to the Internet, the report said.

The reported attack raised more questions than it answered.

For example, the report did not say how attackers managed to download terabytes of data before being discovered. A single terabyte can take up to several weeks to download over a relatively fast data connection, such as a Digital Subscriber Line or cable modem.

The report also suggested that China could be behind the stolen data, noting that investigators believe the attack originated in China. However, it said the exact identities of the people behind the attack had not been established.



Read more: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=009131881

[tomm2thumbs]

1. why ANY computer that has data of that sort is connected to the internet AT ALL is ignorance

but ignorance is bliss

[StClone]

2. Me thinks this is not what it seems

I suspect that the American DoD computers were full of junk China was allowed to break into and the huge data blocks were then used to monitored China's hacking techniques as well as follow up on other information. I doubt such a long-term activity on such a scale would then be publicly announced.

[AlphaCentauri]

3. agree, bait and distraction

[bemildred]

7. Yeah, I agree.

It it's true, we are toast anyway.

[DainBramaged]

8. I agree, we aren't stupid, and it now gives us a big hammer to negotiate with them

[L0oniX]

4. Heheheheh ...stupid stupid stupid ...the hack if any was most lilkely from a bounce...

where the hacker or hackers use someone elses server to do the break in and then use an FXP like program to transfer files. Chinese servers are very easy to hack into. We used to do it all the time and had hundreds of bots and warez ftp running on them. Those Chinese lamers are still using telnet. heheh stupid All you have to do is put a sniffer on the telnet port of one of their servers and wait for someone to use it. The sniffer captures the login password for you. Once you are in you usually can do a cross script hack to gain root and that gives you total control. The Chinese are an easy mark for those with l33t linux skills and it's easy for the DOD to blame them however I still think this incident if any would have been what they call a "honey pot" deal where the incident is monitored. There's no way you are going to down load terabytes in such a short time with a connection from China. They don't have fiber and cable or dsl. It would take so long (many weeks)that every admin in the chain would see the traffic and put a stop to it. This may be a ruse to get more funding for the DOD. "oh noes ...our Wang got haxord ...we need more money to protect da home land".

[damntexdem]

5. Those hackers had better watch out.

Next thing, THEY will be experiencing massive cost overruns. ;-)

[skoalyman]

6. hey who knows they may actually build it cheaper

we could buy it from them and save a load of tax payer monies:shrug: