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State Department Hacked, Shuts Down Worldwide Email System

Tyler Durden's picture




 

As the G-20 meeting comes to a 'successful' end with back-patting congratulations having agreed to create $2 trillion more GDP out of thin air (or maybe hookers and blow), it appears that someone - or more than one - among these nations was less than diplomatic towards every nations' best friend - America. As AP reports, The State Department has taken the unprecedented step of shutting down its entire unclassified email system as technicians repair possible damage from a suspected hacker attack. Earlier attacks have been blamed on Russian or Chinese attackers, although their origin has never been publicly confirmed.

 

As AP reports,

The State Department has taken the unprecedented step of shutting down its entire unclassified email system as technicians repair possible damage from a suspected hacker attack.

 

A senior department official said Sunday that "activity of concern" was detected in the system around the same time as a previously reported incident that targeted the White House computer network. That incident was made public in late October, but there was no indication then that the State Department had been affected. Since then, a number of agencies, including the U.S. Postal Service and the National Weather Service, have reported attacks.

 

The official said none of the State Department's classified systems were affected. However, the official said the department shut down its worldwide email late on Friday as part of a scheduled outage of some of its internet-linked systems to make security improvements to its main unclassified computer network. The official was not authorized to speak about the matter by name and spoke on condition of anonymity.

 

The official said the department expects that all of its systems will be operating as normal in the near future, but would not discuss who might be responsible for the breach. Earlier attacks have been blamed on Russian or Chinese attackers, although their origin has never been publicly confirmed.

 

The State Department is expected to address the shutdown once the security improvements have been completed on Monday or Tuesday.

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Sun, 11/16/2014 - 16:22 | 5454871 Skateboarder
Skateboarder's picture

Network Security is an oxymoron (in the OSI Internet model, and especially TCP/IP).

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 16:23 | 5454876 svayambhu108
svayambhu108's picture

OSI is as real as chakras

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 16:24 | 5454881 Latina Lover
Latina Lover's picture

Putin did it, thats all you need to know. Time to bomb Moscow.... hmmm what is the really bright light in the sky.....?

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 16:27 | 5454888 Pinto Currency
Pinto Currency's picture

 

 

 

We need Obamamail to make this efficient too.

If you like your e-mail program, you can keep your e-mail program.

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 16:27 | 5454895 TheAnalOG
TheAnalOG's picture

"We spammed some folks"

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 16:31 | 5454903 zerozulu
zerozulu's picture

In Beijing Omama used hotel computer to send Mochelle a goodnight note.

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 19:00 | 5455296 Publicus
Publicus's picture

We are legion.

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 19:47 | 5455429 DeadFred
DeadFred's picture

Wake me when someone hacks into the NSA storage facility and erases all their data.

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 19:55 | 5455440 nmewn
nmewn's picture

Yes.

Clearly we need to give "authority" over the internet, nay...world climate itself!!!...to governments, cuz they're exceptional and secure...lol.

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 16:37 | 5454917 Paveway IV
Paveway IV's picture

The State Department would like to remind everyone that we're at code orange-red:

Possible Russian State-ordered hacker attack on U.S. nuclear infrastructure, power grid and ATM network any day now.

At least those fuckers in Intelligence haven't brought up the 'C' word:

"...We're picking up chatter on social media that a Putin-ordered Russian asymetricalistic attack with weaponized STUXNET is imminent..."

Fuck you and your CHATTER, you worthless NSA ass-hats. The real enemy of the U.S. Constitution and citizens of the U.S. are in Washington, D.C., not Moscow.

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 17:03 | 5454956 bbq on whitehou...
bbq on whitehouse lawn's picture

This still will not let you cut in line for iphones or black friday. Not even nukes burning citys would let you cut ahead of those women at best buy.

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 16:27 | 5454897 InjectTheVenom
InjectTheVenom's picture

pleeeeez don't give them any ideas !!

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 16:27 | 5454891 TheAnalOG
TheAnalOG's picture

Almost all "hacks" are just misconfiguration or poor security implementation.

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 16:39 | 5454923 zerozulu
zerozulu's picture

-----> Mossad or RAW

-----> China or Russia

Mon, 11/17/2014 - 03:55 | 5456395 ebear
ebear's picture

RAW?

Robert Anton Wilson?   

If he did, it was from beyond the grave.

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 16:31 | 5454907 ebworthen
ebworthen's picture

I hope Putin did it; would serve Nuland and that pit of vipers right.

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 18:35 | 5455221 Clarabell
Clarabell's picture

The Zionist Neocons must be frothing at the mouth with rage that anyone would dare to hack the part of the government they completely control. One thing you can be sure of is that it wasn't the Mossad, they already have a direct connection to all State Department communication.

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 21:12 | 5455652 Never One Roach
Never One Roach's picture

They were hacking to find out what Hillarity was ordering online at Amazon for Christmas:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Vibrating-Hello-Kitty-Vibrator-Masturbator/sim/B00...

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 16:32 | 5454911 Skateboarder
Skateboarder's picture

Great comment, but that's an unfair comparison (chakras are agnostic territory). I'll take something more concrete, like "OSI is as real as {GAAP accounting, GDP, <insert your favorite charade>, ...}." A fine example of preached theory vs. practiced reality. A new spec is in order, and everyone knows it (never mind, no one knows it lol).

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 16:58 | 5454949 nofluer
nofluer's picture

Hey! GAAP Accounting is real... It's just picky about who it hangs out with... like it no longer hangs out with government books, or banker's books, or people like those who want to date them then leave them bleeding in an alley.

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 17:20 | 5455014 Dinero D. Profit
Dinero D. Profit's picture

 

MICOS accounting has superseded GAAP.

 

(Make It Come Out Somehow.)

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 18:02 | 5455121 css1971
css1971's picture

DEC had a full OSI implementation. It was just too much of a bitch.

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 16:23 | 5454879 Latina Lover
Latina Lover's picture

Our political leaders are oxymorons. 

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 16:37 | 5454921 Skateboarder
Skateboarder's picture

No, I think they're just morons lol. Some of them are probably on oxy though. ;-)

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 17:59 | 5455116 css1971
css1971's picture

No, it's just done very badly in general. The security models being applied by most are mathematically abysmal, causing delays, bottlenecks, outages and competitive disadvantages.

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 16:23 | 5454873 svayambhu108
svayambhu108's picture

Its Worldwide Email System*

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 16:53 | 5454920 Sudden Debt
Sudden Debt's picture

You might know it as Chatroulette

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 16:22 | 5454875 Latina Lover
Latina Lover's picture

Putin did it !!!

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 17:35 | 5455046 SpanishGoop
SpanishGoop's picture

And he has a lot of emails to go through on the plain on his way home.

 

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 16:25 | 5454882 RickTome
RickTome's picture

Wow how could norton antivirus not prevent this???

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 16:40 | 5454924 Sudden Debt
Sudden Debt's picture

Who needs a norton antivirus when you have hazmat suit?!?!

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 17:05 | 5454966 Ness.
Ness.'s picture

I rely on clipboards and scissors for my protection.  

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 16:26 | 5454890 FeralSerf
FeralSerf's picture

Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of motherfuckers.

Let he that is without scruples throw the first stone:

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/11/19/stuxnets_secret_twin_ir...

Mon, 11/17/2014 - 03:32 | 5456373 Paveway IV
Paveway IV's picture

The article talks about the little-known first STUXNET in 2007 attacking the protection systems of the Natanz centrifuges. 

Little known, except to the U.S. and CNN:

"...CNN has honored a request from the Department of Homeland Security not to divulge certain details about the experiment, dubbed "Aurora," and conducted in March at the Department of Energy's Idaho lab..."

Project Aurora was the DOE (and Mossad) testing STUXNET v.1 on Siemens controller protection logic for the backup generators at nuclear plants. That's what the video is actually showing even though they don't say so. Remember all those generators that didn't work at Fukushima way before the tsunami hit?

The reason the DOE's Idaho National Laboratory (formerly the Idaho National Nuclear Laboratory) was involved is because the lab's 'owner', Battelle, has been involved in damn near every US-Israeli spying and hacking effort since forever. Israel has it's fingers in every single security aspect of US nuclear installations and critical infrastructure like power plants and water supplies. All thanks to the avalanche of post 9/11 paranoia spending (the gift that keeps on giving). Battelle JVs like this one were coming out every week for a while.

The US and Israel still needed a more convenient vector for delivering STUXNET v.2 into 'enemy', i.e., Iranian and Russian nuclear facilities. Battelle couldn't help there. They needed to turn to their pals at the Microsoft R&D centers in Israel for some sweet zero-day exploits.

Israel has paid billions in incentives to get every communication and networking hardware manufacturer to set up R&D labs there. Everyone from Apple to Broadcom to Cisco. Even the NSA doesn't know about all the low-level back doors Israel has been building in to their designs at the chip level. STUXNET is a relic from the stone ages. 

Mon, 11/17/2014 - 03:44 | 5456388 TruthInSunshine
TruthInSunshine's picture

"Israel has paid billions in incentives to get every communication and networking hardware manufacturer to set up R&D labs there."

Every fucking dollar "spent" by Israel is literally a direct gift from US
Taxpayers (thanks to Congress & White House being Zionist Occupied Territory).

Mon, 11/17/2014 - 03:44 | 5456392 TruthInSunshine
TruthInSunshine's picture

"Israel has paid billions in incentives to get every communication and networking hardware manufacturer to set up R&D labs there."

Every fucking dollar "spent" by Israel is literally a direct gift from US Taxpayers (thanks to Congress & White House being Zionist Occupied Territory).

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 16:28 | 5454894 LoneStarHog
LoneStarHog's picture

This all has the stench of Langley...

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 16:32 | 5454910 Barnaby
Barnaby's picture

A Brutus exploit on a "legacy" system should never be considered a hack. Jebus Crist, what a bunch of amateurs.

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 16:34 | 5454915 apberusdisvet
apberusdisvet's picture

Best to change passwords with a new Secretary.  the old one "lick hillary's pussy123" is too obvious.

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 16:34 | 5454916 Sudden Debt
Sudden Debt's picture

I TOLD THEN NOT TO DOWNLOAD THOSE PORN.EXE FILES!!!
I told them...

But does anybody listen?...

Why do I even bother sending mails to myy friends for them to read I don't know...

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 16:36 | 5454919 NoWayJose
NoWayJose's picture

The correct conclusion is that EVERYTHING you enter or store using a cell phone or a computer is being spied on, hacked, or skimmed for advertising.

There is NO (right to) PRIVACY!

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 16:40 | 5454925 Barnaby
Barnaby's picture

When they installed a power grid they stole your privacy.

When they created a low-volt power grid, they enslaved you.

When they induced you to buy a device that tracks you like on the Enterprise, they committed an act of war.

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 16:47 | 5454933 Sudden Debt
Sudden Debt's picture

HAHAHA THAN YOU'LL LOVE THIS SITE!!

Do you have a wireless ip camera?

Did you keep the standard password?

IF YES, EVERYBODY CAN WATCH YOU ONLINE!!

http://ww2.livesecuritycams.com

BYE BYE PRIVACY FOREVER!!

Mon, 11/17/2014 - 06:13 | 5456486 One Eyed Jack
One Eyed Jack's picture

That is unless your some Hollywood cunt or friend of the regime, then they prosecute.

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 16:46 | 5454935 Infinite QE
Infinite QE's picture

State Dept. officials have been ordered to communicate via their new, top-secret system, iTwat.

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 16:59 | 5454954 himaroid
himaroid's picture

At this point, what difference does it make?

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 17:04 | 5454957 Guitarbill
Guitarbill's picture

Gubbermint controled internet coming soon...you know, to keep you safe.

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 17:05 | 5454959 Hannibal
Hannibal's picture

Its the NSA you morons!

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 17:05 | 5454960 Bingo Hammer
Bingo Hammer's picture

"The official was not authorized to speak about the matter by name and spoke on condition of anonymity."

An "official spokesperson" for the US State Department who is NOT authorised to speak still spoke "anonymously" but its all true he's swears it,...

Well I have a friend of a friend who's brother-in-law's friend works at (?) who said (x) about (y) but he has to remain anonymous too...

Nothing is real, everything upon everything all our governments say is utter fake and utter bullshit.

I now have more belief in the tooth fairy and Santa Claus - hey I hear he's comin' to town again soon, yippeee! 

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 17:08 | 5454976 Herdee
Herdee's picture

Did the Ruskies get Victoria Nuland's phone number?

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 17:15 | 5454990 falconflight
falconflight's picture

How about her family's home address?

Mon, 11/17/2014 - 06:12 | 5456484 One Eyed Jack
One Eyed Jack's picture

1.800.old.cunt?

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 17:14 | 5454986 falconflight
falconflight's picture

Oh, how sad and regrettable. :)

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 17:16 | 5455000 AdvancingTime
AdvancingTime's picture

Just another example as to why Americans should be concerned about the internet. If cyber warfare and cyber-attacks are not on your list of modern worries, it is time you put them on. Either could make your life much more difficult or in a worse case scenario end it.

A series of high-profile events since 2010 has highlighted the increasing and multifaceted threat of cyber-attacks. U.S. cyber-security policy continues to evolve to meet these challenges, but critical gaps remain, including the incomplete protection of digital infrastructure vital to national security, such as power grids and financial networks. On a personal level having your accounts hacked, or having someone steal your identity can turn your life upside down. More on this growing problem in the article below.

http://brucewilds.blogspot.com/2013/05/cyber-warfare-and-attacks.html

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 17:46 | 5455083 bid the soldier...
bid the soldiers shoot's picture

 

Oh, how I long for the good old days before WMD and the secret, classified and unrevealable evidence of Syria's sarin attack, when the US government would come right out and tell you that they honorably and constitutionally interned Japanese American citizens and dispossessed them of their property because, Heaven forfend, their ancestors were Japanese.

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 18:13 | 5455149 Karaio
Karaio's picture

The other thing is.

Many security guards and similar HedTube accessing the network was unstable.

hehe.

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 18:42 | 5455246 godzila
godzila's picture

Sorry to ask but is the straight department (tm) actually running an unencrypted e-mail network ?? To what purpose ?

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 18:45 | 5455251 ThisIsBob
ThisIsBob's picture

"Costs?"

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 19:33 | 5455391 yogibear
yogibear's picture

Why can't they do something more useful like hack the BLS? 

 

 

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 19:45 | 5455424 Joe A
Joe A's picture

DP

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 19:46 | 5455426 Joe A
Joe A's picture

I ran a network once. Was under daily hack attacks originating from China. I managed to hack them back one day and uploaded photoshopped pictures of their leaders' faces in compromising positions with other men onto their servers. They got the message.

The Chinese and probably Ruskies are spying on us every day. We do that to them too. But attacks probing the security of our infrastructure and stuff is scary. But we do that to them too.

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 20:27 | 5455532 Seize Mars
Seize Mars's picture

Headline: "State Department Hacked by Self In Order to Blame Anyone We Want"

Sun, 11/16/2014 - 20:41 | 5455575 q99x2
q99x2's picture

They could contain sensitive National Security information; child molestation by bankers and what not.

Mon, 11/17/2014 - 01:07 | 5456233 IridiumRebel
IridiumRebel's picture

No ones ever hacked into my safe. Bank accounts will be hit one day.

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