Virus hits nearly 75% of systems on Afghanistan military base
Summary: Earlier this month we saw the military ban the use of USB drives and other removable media. Apparently the virus outbreak that lead to this measure affected 75\% of all systems at the largest U.
Earlier this month we saw the military ban the use of USB drives and other removable media. Apparently the virus outbreak that lead to this measure affected 75\% of all systems at the largest U.S. military base in Afghanistan. Details are still sparse, but both the LA Times and the U.S. News and World Report are reporting that the intrusion was severe enough to raise the INFOCON status, the information security equivalent of the DEFCON alert, and also necessitate the briefing of the president. We also don't know the source of the attack, but signs point to state rather than non-state actors, with the most popular contenders being either Russia or China.
Our military is dependent upon commodity desktops whose software shares an enormous amount of DNA with systems that sit on every workplace in the planet. These systems form the backbone of what is called network centric warfare. Hopefully the security that the military is planning for these systems is something less than... commodity.
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Talkback
This isn't news.
Yes, it is news. This is a huge disruption for the military. They should
For email, Linux would be a lot easier to administer, and about 100x safer.
So, Windows Admins Suck in Afghanistan, Too
While I agree with you on getting linux for the military...
SPC Seth Alton
RE: Virus hits nearly 75% of systems
You can bet that they will be considering the alternatives very carefully
So you feel that military officals are idiots?
If you do not think that is true, then you must feel that the military is full of a bunch of idiots as to have not looked at everything out there in terms of operating systems, correct?
I mean, if you know about Linux do you not think that the military does, also, or are you implying that you are smarter then the military?
It's true!
Heck, they may have even created their own operating system that can be used instead. That would be an interesting though wise move, I believe.
They have not learned anything....
Just because...
mean they'll do it. May people know that Linux or
OSX is safer, but still insist on being a lemming and
continue to use Windows. Windows is ONLY safe
when there is at least 1000 feet between a computer
running it and the nearest Internet connection.
Removing the network card reduces this distance to
10 feet.
partnership
Indeed i've asked myself the same qyuestion. I believe that microsoft and the military have some goo going. In otherwords: "mr bill gates, you make these features and we stick to your product." Either that or the military are idiots, i mean why not? The president was also an idiot, elected by idiots(i'm generalising) so why the fuck not, they're idiots!!
Don't laught, LOSE-droids---arminw is on the mark.
Windows -- NSA endorsed only when nothing can come in, or out.
RE: So ... ... military officals are idiots?
<br>
^o^<br>
<br>
wow!
..but only for office work.
Windows is relegated for office work -- so nobody gets killed when (NOT if...when!) it hoses itself.
I know -- I used to be air defence, and I served a year in Baghdad with an infantry company and had the unenviable resposibility of taking care of all the data processing systems. The Solaris and Linux systems worked flawlessly... even though they were in extremely harsh conditions with untrained users.
Meanwhile, the Windows systems... even though COMPLETELY isolated from the general internet, STILL got viruses.
Windows -- unsafe at any speed.
And, you are trying to say that the military has never made a bonehead
RE: And, ... you say that the military !bonehead
...<br>
Occasionally, Lockheed Martin, one of the army?s largest technology suppliers, stated they did not make any restriction on the operating systems their customers may use, so this time it is probably not the arms lobby, it?s Microsoft! ;-)<br>
<br>
So:<br>
<br>
<a href="http://mybeni.rootzilla.de/mybeNi/2007/is_the_us_army_really_about_to_ban_linux/" target="_blank">Is the US Army really about to ban Linux from their Computers and force their employees to use Windows XP? What would be the consequences?</a>"<br>
<br>
"In my opinion, this will hurt the army very badly, but anyways I?m eager to hear your opinion!" :)</font> <br>
<br>
^o^<br>
<br>
cool down smartboy
beside that, why are you so angry that so many windows systems are infested? Is because it destroy all your first line of defense - cannot be true, those trolls afe fudding, incompetent system administrators [I never got infected]?
TD
No individual person makes bad decisions like this
There is little excuse to be running it where security is
important. Do they have legacy apps that need migrating?
I'm sure they do.
The problem is political and organizational. Someone or
someone(s) didn't want to move off Windows. Maybe they
felt the risk was not significant enough to warrant the
expense. Whatever, we'll never know. I don't know what
makes you think that just because they're the military they
will make the right decision.
I'm a Mac user and I wouldn't recommend Macs either. SE
Linux is the best way to go. You get commodity hardware,
the ability to actually mod the kernel if necessary, and not
a single successful virus out there.
Idiots? Maybe
Here are several scenarios:
1) I am sure Microsoft was more than willing to negotiate a contract to be the largest supplier to the military.
2) Due to procurement slowness, someone decided to expedite the process by purchasing civilian PCs.
Either one can be a security risk. Like most systems it's how the system and processes are implemented.
Do I think the military officials are idiots? Depends on which one(s) you are referring to. Many are just trying to do the job with the materials provided, others don't care as long as their issues are gone, but the guy further down the chain has a headache.