PC World: Cybersecurity efforts to protect a leading U.S. nuclear laboratory’s classified computer network remain lacking even after a series of security lapses, according to a new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
The Los Alamos National Laboratory, which has suffered multiple security breaches in recent years, continues to have “significant weaknesses in protecting the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information stored on and transmitted over its classified computer network,” the GAO said in a report released Friday.
…….The lab has not conducted comprehensive risk assessments to ensure against unauthorized use, has not marked the classification level of information stored on its classified network, and has inadequate training for users with security responsibilities, the GAO report said.
In January, there were reports of the theft of three computers from a lab employee’s home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Later reports said as many as 67 computers were missing from the lab.
In July 2007, the U.S. Department of Energy moved to fine the lab for an October 2006 breach that exposed classified data. A contract worker illegally downloaded and removed hundreds of pages of data from the lab using USB thumb drives.
Also in mid-2007, U.S. lawmakers criticized the lab after reports that several officials there had used unprotected e-mail networks to share highly classified information.
There were other security problems at the lab, including instances in 2003 and 2004 when the lab could not account for classified removable electronic media, such as compact discs and removable hard drives. . . . .
UPI: Hezbollah has infiltrated the security services of Israel and obtained vital documents regarding military activity, the resistance movement said. Hezbollah on its al-Manar news station highlights several accounts from Israeli media that suggest the group “might have” gathered information on Israeli defense efforts by crossing the border, taking pictures and copying sensitive documents. The report points to Israeli accounts that suggest Hezbollah could have obtained key information about Israeli military, naval and aerial activities. . . . .
Related — IPF: Hezbollah Report on the IDF Presence on the Lebanese Border
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) maintains a large presence on the Lebanese border. This includes watch posts, fences, radar stations (both land and air) and the use of numerous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Unfortunately for Israel, Hezbollah has a very good idea of the extent and capabilities of the IDF. Ronen Bergman in today’s Yedioth Ahronoth has an important article detailing Hezbollah penetration and observation of IDF activities and presence along the border. Bergman notes:
The document reached Yedioth Ahronoth and is now being revealed for the first time. It underscores the extent to which the enemy’s intelligence has succeeded in infiltrating the IDF and proves that Nasrallah’s people have rather good intelligence sources. The report, which spans 150 pages (the table of contents alone is four pages), lists in detail the IDF’s deployment on the northern border as well as the mechanisms it operates there – in the air, land and sea. “My heart sunk just by reading the document’s table of contents,” said this week a source who had served in an extremely high position in the Northern Command.
The document includes photographs from both the Israeli and Lebanese sides of the border, as well as IDF procedures for shift changes and drills, the escorting of engineer and maintenance personnel to the border, technical aspects to the security fence, and so on. Bergman remarks that:
The document is based on a wide array of human sources – spies operated by Hezbollah within the IDF and in Israel’s territory – alongside gathering of visible data and listening in on Israel’s open – and also possibly encrypted – communication networks. It is hard to believe, but the Hezbollah intelligence sources who wrote the document seem to have copied from internal documents belonging to the Northern Command.
This is a major problem for Israel. The effects of Hezbollah infiltration and widespread surveillance of IDF border embankments and actions are a security issue of immense proportion. . . . . .
The Guardian: The trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other self-confessed plotters in the 9/11 attacks in New York’s southern district court – which includes Manhattan – is likely to present considerable challenges for the United States.
The southern district is one of the most experienced US jurisdictions in trying terrorists, but such a high profile case, so close to the emblematic epicentre of 9/11, will not only involve major security issues – both for the court house and officials involved in the trial – but will also have to consider how to deal with what is likely to be an extremely large body of classified evidence that the prosecution will want to present.
“KSM”, as he has come to be known, and his four co-defendants described themselves “as terrorists to the bone” in a filing before a military commission at Guantánamo in March and have referred to their alleged involvement in the attacks as a “badge of honour”.
…..The judge is also likely to have his hands full if Mohammed’s arraignment at a military commission in 2008 was anything to go by. The alleged 9/11 mastermind recited verses from the Qur’an, denounced George Bush for his “crusader wars”, described the process as an “inquisition” during which he had been tortured, and declared his wish to become a “martyr”.
Mohammed, who argued with the judge during the reading of the charges, refused to accept an attorney appointed by a court not governed by sharia law, described the US constitition – under which the federal court system is guaranteed – as “evil” and said he would defend himself. . . . . .
Reuters: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has created a powerful new intelligence organization to try to quell any further public unrest following June’s disputed election, an exiled Iranian opposition group said on Thursday. The new organization, responsible for intelligence and security, is an off-shoot of the Revolutionary Guards and will report directly to the supreme leader’s office . . . . .
Hasan’s Treasonous Statement
US Army Major Nidal Hasan, born in Virginia, swore an oath to protect and defend the US Constitution when he joined the Army. Islamic Sharia Law is in direct opposition to the US Constitution (if your organization doesn’t understand this, they need to take 361: The Global Jihadist Threat Doctrine asap before Congress begins their investigations asking WHY your organization didn’t know this).
This one statement alone by a US military officer, that his allegiance was not to the United States Constitution but to Islamic Law is absolutely treasonous and should have been enough to set off all kinds of red flags and investigations, the least of which to get him kicked out on dishonorable discharge. But it is a sad reflection of today’s environment where his disloyal statement is not getting the attention it should. It is also an increasingly serious problem that government security officers have to deal with. (See PERSEC report: “Allegiance in a Time of Globalization“)
Some time ago, the CI Centre designed an Oath of Office poster (above) as a reminder of a document too often forgotten these days and words said once and never thought of again:
23×35 Oath of Office poster
16×20 Oath of Office poster