Cyber attacks on the USA (catch all)

[AdamG]

Hacking is becoming a growing problem on Earth. It may seem strange to mention Earth, as there’s not much to hack outside of our planet’s atmosphere unless you count satellites. Even then, how feasible would it be to gain access to the systems running such devices?

Well, China not only has people working on such things, it has been discovered they actually managed to take control of two NASA satellites for more than 11 minutes.

The successful attacks occurred in 2007 and 2008. The more serious of the two happened in ’08 when NASA had control of the Terra EOS earth observation system satellite disrupted for 2 minutes in June, and then a further 9 minutes in October. During that time, whoever took control had full access to the satellites’ systems, but chose to do nothing with it.

http://www.geek.com/articles/geek-pi...utes-20111119/

[Backwards Observer]

UPDATE1-US commander cannot pin down satellite anomaly

The command responsible for U.S. military space operations lacks enough data to determine who interfered with two U.S. government satellites, anomalies behind perhaps the most explosive charge in a report on China sent to the U.S. Congress on Wednesday.

"What I have seen is inconclusive," General Robert Kehler, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, said in a teleconference from Omaha, Nebraska, home to the military outfit that conducts U.S. space and cyberspace operations.

[...]

China's military is a prime suspect, the bipartisan, 12-member commission made clear, though it added that the events in question had not actually been traced to China.

US Commander cannot pin down satellite anomaly - Reuters - Nov 16, 2011.

How does the excerpt in bold translate to the geek.com headline of "Chinese hackers took control of NASA satellite for 11 minutes"? Are they saying that the USAF General in charge of US Strategic Command is engaging in 'political correctness', incompetent, or worse, lying? Or is geek.com part of the re-activated Grill Flame program?

I did enjoy this comment on the geek.com article, however:

You have obviously never been to china...they will eat each other before they become a "super power"

[davidbfpo]

Not my field, but I think some clues and understanding is found here:http://www.schneier.com/blog/archive....html#comments

[carl]

Are they saying that the USAF General in charge of US Strategic Command is engaging in 'political correctness', incompetent, or worse, lying?

After watching other Generals and high ranking State and Defense Dept. people pretend that what is isn't for the past decade in various parts of the world, I think it very plausible that the USAF General in question is doing all three at the same time.

[Backwards Observer]

After watching other Generals and high ranking State and Defense Dept. people pretend that what is isn't for the past decade in various parts of the world, I think it very plausible that the USAF General in question is doing all three at the same time.

Dang, and I thought I was cynical.

[carl]

When you think about it, you would expect politically correct, incompetent and dishonest to all run together.

[Backwards Observer]

When you think about it, you would expect politically correct, incompetent and dishonest to all run together.

Yeah, but in China it's the other way round. (applause)


quote

John Kenneth Galbraith - Wikipedia

[Backwards Observer]

Chinese hackers infiltrate Department of Homeland Security and FBI, pay off official mouthpieces:

No evidence of cyberattack at water pump, DHS says

Federal investigators have found no evidence that a cyberattack was behind a water pump failure this month in Illinois, the government announced Tuesday.

After a "detailed analysis," the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI "have found no evidence of a cyber intrusion," DHS spokesman Chris Ortman said.

Officials confirmed last week that they were looking into the possibility of a cyberattack at a public water district in Illinois, after a blog disclosed the possibility.

"There is no evidence to support claims made in initial reports -- which were based on raw, unconfirmed data and subsequently leaked to the media -- that any credentials were stolen, or that the vendor was involved in any malicious activity that led to a pump failure at the water plant," Ortman said Tuesday. " In addition, DHS and FBI have concluded that there was no malicious traffic from Russia or any foreign entities, as previously reported."

No evidence of cyberattack at water pump, DHS says - CNN - Nov 23, 2011.