to begin with this week , Buzzfeed reportedthat a computer security flaw in has leave Army computers vulnerable for at least two years ; today , the Army confirmedto Buzzfeed that this was , in fact the example . And that they have no plans to do anything to fix it .
While the particular of the defect have n’t yet been give away — for obvious reasons — what it does is alarming . Anyone with access to a shared Army computer can adopt the personal identity of any other Army force . That means getting their security clearance . That ’s uncollectible . According to Buzzfeed :
to log into a shared Army data processor you need to put in your personal Common Access Code military ID . Each circuit card contains a chip that has the individual soldier ’s permissions and security details , and which help the military dog your activity . Once you remove the card , you are fully logged out . But the plug overrides that scheme during the shut down full point .
ingeminate attempts by some soldier to make for the issue to light through normal channel hold up unheaded ; they were told , instead , to keep their mouth shut . It was only after theBuzzfeed reportcame to ignite that they acknowledge there was a trouble at all . And that they have no intention of make it better .
That ’s right . Instead of patch the flaw , the military is instead expire to impress the grandness of personal responsibleness on its troops . If everyone makes sure they ’re amply logged off , the thinking goes , the trouble will take care of itself . As anyone who ’s ever expend any amount of meter around reckoner systems will tell you , it will not .
It ’s an specially large problem given the variety of info that ’s at stake . Nearly any soldier with knowledge of the hack — of whom there were reportedly a large number before , which one can imagine is much larger by now — could use it to benefit access to the highest headroom levels we have . If that ’s not an of import internal security threat , I ’m not sure what is .
Thefull report on Buzzfeedis well deserving a read . It ’s also a not - so - patrician admonisher that some of our most crucial exposure ca n’t be arrest with Kevlar or projectile defense . peculiarly if we do n’t attempt to patch them at all . [ Buzzfeed ]
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