Pentagon hit by ‘critical compromise’ of US air force communications – report
Pentagon hit by ‘critical compromise’ of US air force communications – report
Forbes reports claim that engineer at Arnold air force base in Tennessee had taken home government radio technologies
Forbes reports claim that engineer at Arnold air force base in Tennessee had taken home government radio technologies
According to a search warrant obtained by investigators and reviewed by Forbes, the equipment allegedly taken by the engineer cost nearly $90,000. It also added that when law enforcement agents searched his home, they found that he had “unauthorized administrator access” to radio communication technology used by the Air Education and Training Command (AETC), which is one of the nine major commands of the air force and in turn affected 17 defense department installations.
“It added that a colleague had reported him twice due to “insider threat indicators” as well as unauthorized possession of air force equipment, according to investigators”
Is my favourite part. What the actual fuck.
The warrant also recounted how witnesses and co-workers informed investigators that the engineer had allegedly “sold radios and radio equipment, worked odd hours, was arrogant, frequently lied, displayed inappropriate workplace behavior and sexual harassment, had financial problems, and possessed [Arnold air force base land mobile radio] equipment”.
. . . Investigators also reported to have found evidence which indicated that the searched contractor had possible access to FBI communications, as well as Tennessee state agencies, Forbes reported. The FBI is working alongside the air force on the investigation, according to the outlet.
. . . The Forbes report comes only three months after one of the worst leaks in US intelligence in over a decade. In that case, 21-year-old Jack Teixeira, an air national guardsman at the time, was arrested on suspicion of leaking hundreds of Pentagon documents.
He has since been charged under the Espionage Act.
Whatcha got there is one o’ them MAGAnazis.
They got done by one of their own contractors who had a bunch of conduct complaints. Maybe they shouldn't have outsourced that particular piece of government work?
Sounds like a domestic terrorist.
"In another potential security issue facing the government, the New York Times reported on Saturday that the Joe Biden White House was hunting alleged Chinese malware that it believes is hidden across various American facilities."
I wonder who allowed Chinese Nationals access to various American facilities?
Guy put all his points into INT but WIS was his dump stat. Might just be one of those nerds who got too comfortable taking his work home with him after getting away with things for a while and kept escalating the bad behavior, good thing the contractor was paying attention and reported the suspicions. Hopefully this will lead to more effective oversight when it comes to sensitive items.
I wonder if this relates to the recent hacking technique on Law Enforcement radios? Like is he using the vulnerability I wonder.
If you're talking about the TETRA flaw that made news recently, it's unlikely to be related. The employee in the article is in the USA where TETRA is not widely used. Can't rule it out without more details but from what's written, it sounds like he had legitimate access to the information and tools through his workplace and decided to incorporate it into his hobbies. P25 is more common for encrypted voice and text over radio within US military and law enforcement agencies. It has vulnerabilities too but the reporting on those issues is a bit older so probably won't make headlines again until something new comes out.
It makes sense that he'd have the information for military-related communications if that was part of his job (though it should have been left at work). As for the FBI and state agencies, those details could have been in the plans for Defense Support of Civil Authorities (DSCA) operations. It's the sort of thing you can figure out ahead of time so you're not scrambling to put it all together when the world is on fire. If they've rehearsed those scenarios with local and federal partners in the past, any officer worth their shiny collar would identify the need for seamless communication in order to coordinate response efforts more effectively.