Blueprints for Presidential helicopter on net

[Ace Pace]

Why was such a machine even connected to the internet?!

A company that monitors peer-to-peer file-sharing networks has discovered a potentially serious security breach involving President Barack Obama's helicopter, NBC affiliate WPXI in Pittsburgh reported Saturday.

Employees of Tiversa, a Cranberry Township, Pa.-based security company that specializes in peer-to-peer technology, reportedly found engineering and communications information about Marine One at an IP address in Tehran, Iran.

Bob Boback, CEO of Tiversa, told WPXI-TV: "We found a file containing entire blueprints and avionics package for Marine One, which is the president's helicopter."

The company was able to trace the file back to its original source.

"What appears to be a defense contractor in Bethesda, Md., had a file-sharing program on one of their systems that also contained highly sensitive blueprints for Marine One," Boback said.

Tiversa also found sensitive financial information about the cost of the helicopter on that same computer, WPXI-TV reported.

Someone from the company most likely downloaded a file-sharing program, typically used to exchange music, not realizing the potential problems, Boback said.

"When downloading one of these file-sharing programs, you are effectively allowing others around the world to access your hard drive," Boback said.

Retired Gen. Wesley Clark, an adviser to Tiversa, said the company discovered exactly which computer the information came from. "I'm sure that person is embarrassed and may even lose their job, but we know where it came from and we know where it went."

Boback said the government was notified immediately.

Iran is not the only country that appears to be accessing this type of information through file-sharing programs, Boback told the station.

"We've noticed it out of Pakistan, Yemen, Qatar and China. They are actively searching for information that is disclosed in this fashion because it is a great source of intelligence," Boback said.

Clark told WPXI that he doesn't know how sensitive this information is, but he said other military information has been found on the Internet in the past and should be monitored more closely.

Rep. Jason Altmire, D-Pa., said he would ask Congress to investigate how to prevent this from happening again.

What kind of fucked up security regulations are there in that company that let these computers have anything like that installed? Or the communication to go through without being filtered?!

[The Grim Squeaker]

What kind of fucked up security regulations are there in that company that let these computers have anything like that installed? Or the communication to go through without being filtered?!

Or even the additional step of including the file (or, more likely it's folder) in shared files. Hell, sharing any files.

[folti78]

What kind of fucked up security regulations are there in that company that let these computers have anything like that installed? Or the communication to go through without being filtered?!

"Security regulations? Our security regulations are in order officer, certified back in 1995. We have bars on all the windows, an access card controlled electronic locks on the doors and all the sensitive documents stored in our prized cellar vault... What?! What kind of internet security regulations are you talk about???"

Looks like the standard case of non-IT oriented company where IT development means buying the latest machines, IT security is chaining the computers to the desks and/or in the worst case the CTO is some half-baked dude, who only got the job because of family ties.

Heck if the company in question is old enough, I wouldn't be surprised, if good part of their 'net capable machines still have their own ip address and DNS entry on the net... With unfiltered accesss going both ways...

[Nephtys]

I highly doubt these are 'blueprints'. It only says 'Engineering and Communication Information', which for all we know could be stuff like engine specs, the communications protocols used, and so on. For Official Use Only stuff, not classified.

Any computer that'd have real sensitive data would be physically isolated.

The Feds are very serious about electronic security.

[Wicked Pilot]

I have files on my personal computers that could fit similar descriptions as the ones in the article. It's nothing classified or particularly useful. If the enemy learns that the touchdown relay disables the DC bus tie switch meaning with a loss of the Main AC transformer rectifiers in flight current will not flow from the Essential DC bus to the Main DC bus as it would on the ground. La de fucking da.