Pentagon breached by foreign hacker

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– August 27, 2010Posted in: IT-News, World News

A foreign spy agency carried out the most serious “cyber attack” on the US military’s networks when a tainted flash drive was inserted into a laptop in the Middle East, according to a senior Pentagon official. 

The Pentagon faces regular cyber attacks Photo: GETTY

The USB stick contained a malicious code that spread undetected and was able to transfer data about American operational plans to foreign networks.

Writing in the journal Foreign Affairs, William Lynn, the deputy defence secretary, said the attack was “the worst fear” of anyone running a computer network. 

Mr Lynn did not say which country’s spy agency was behind the attack or how much damage was caused. He said more than 100 foreign intelligence organisations routinely tried to break into US networks.

“Some governments already have the capacity to disrupt elements of the US information infrastructure,” he said.

He said that every year hackers stole enough data from US government agencies, businesses and universities to fill the Library of Congress many times over.

The article went on to warn that adversaries of the US could threaten American military might without building stealth fighters, aircraft carriers or other expensive weapons systems.

“A dozen determined computer programmers can, if they find a vulnerability to exploit, threaten the United States’ global logistics network, steal its operational plans, blind its intelligence capabilities, or hinder its ability to deliver weapons on target,” Mr Lynn wrote.

The Pentagon had never openly discussed the 2008 incident, which was reported at the time without the degree of its seriousness being known. Mr Lynn was evidently granted permission to reveal the details of the attack because officials wanted to raise awareness of the growing threat posed to government computer networks.

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