Pentagon Breach Raises Security Questions

Information about Pentagon breach that happened last summer due to a Windows vulnerability was recently discussed in some technological reports online. Back during the summer of 2007 the Pentagon had a hack that led to theft of sensitive information from the defense epicenter. With this type of attack from something as simple as an exploited windows vulnerability supports the fact that anyone is vulnerable and action must be taken regularly to prevent these instances.

Hackers attempted to steal information by means of spam attacks on the national defense at the Pentagon. We all would hope that our national defense is aware of the potential of attacks from hackers by use of spam so we can be assured that our nation's secrets are not exposed and up for grabs to the highest bidders. The website GovernmentExecutive.com cited an account made by the chief information officer Dennis Clem of the Office of the Secretary of Defense in regards to the attack last summer:

During the attack, spoofed e-mails containing recognizable names were sent to OSD employees. When they opened the messages, user IDs and passwords that unlocked the entire network were stolen; as a result, sensitive data housed on Defense systems was accessed, copied and sent back to the intruder.

"This was a very bad day," said Clem during a panel discussion at the Information Processing Interagency Conference Tuesday. The breach continues to pose a threat, he added. "We don't know when they'll use the information they stole, [which was] an amazing amount, [including] processes and procedures that will be valuable to adversaries."

The typical spam attack demonstrated at the time of the attack is all-too-familiar to thousands of internet users around the world. Employees of business can relate to the type of attack that occurred at the Pentagon and have probably been through the same type of scenario.

Unfortunately many home users fall victim to an attack like this on a much smaller scale. It is always a good suggestion to keep your Windows software up-to-date as well as any spam filters and anti-spyware protection programs. The Pentagon, as mentioned in other articles online, provides instructions for its staff to prevent any type of potential threat to their security. Even in the event that a Windows vulnerability is discovered, business around the world including the Pentagon have certain measures in place to act in response to known hacker attacks.