On Monday, after FreeBeacon.com revealed that a hack attack had occurred against the White House Military Office (WHMO) in September, and that the presidential residence and office finally confirmed that such a cyber attack had occurred, but downplayed the threat to national security.
(Photo Credit: U.S. Government)
Didn't they downplay the Secret Service Sex Scandal in Cartagena too? And the Fast and Furious debacle, and...
This latest breach by employees in the Obama administration makes it clear that someone in the upper echelon of the administration is failing to get a handle on matters close to home. Remember the FSA scandal this year by an Obama appointee?
Fox News reports that U.S. government computers were breached by Chinese hackers, and that "This [White House Communications Agency] guy opened an email he wasn't supposed to open," according to their source.
Surely no one is stupid enough to open an email with an attachment, who works in a department already cautioned specifically against such activity, right? If not, America has more concerns than its failing economy and joblessness to worry about.
FreeBeacon reported that the Obama administration tried to downplay the serious breach in security, stating that, "This was a spear phishing attack against an unclassified network."
Unclassified network? Saying it's an unclassified network means nothing. Why not just be totally honest and admit someone dropped the ball? but that, thankfully, it isn't the same "Football"--known militarily as the button the president must push to start World War III.
Spear phishing, or any other computer attack against the Military Office of the president is far from being "minor" in importance, and the WHMO is responsible for important presidential communication activities, such as "strategic nuclear commands." You know, the command the president uses when America decides to launch a missile attack against her enemies in times of war.
So why the casual attitude? Is it because it is an election year and it makes the president look like he doesn't have control of his own home?
The group allegedly with the most to gain for implementing the attack, 4PLA, a group of Chinese military cyber warfare specialists, also known as the 4th Department of General Staff of the People's Liberation Army, according to the FreeBeacon, is but "one of the Chinese groups with an aggressive goal to infiltrate all levels of U.S. government and private sector networks," according to Dimitri Alperovitch, a former McAfee cyber threat researcher.
And America has someone working in the WHMO who doesn't know not to open just any ole email? Can November 6 come any faster?
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Comments: 6
"Saying it's an unclassified network means nothing. Why not just be totally honest and admit someone dropped the ball?"
"It was "downplayed" as a an attack NOT because it was blocked, but because it was an "unclassified network."
Yes, here... on this post, but not in reality. Like I said, it was blocked, which is why top officials didn't shift into "the sky is falling" mode.
"Thank goodness it WAS blocked and hopefully the classified systems have not been breached."
They were not. Did you read the source article?
"Is this the first time this happened?"
No, and it won't be the last. It would be completely naive for anyone to assert that they could ever stop absolutely ALL cyber attacks. For every cyber-tech the government employs, there are just as many, or more, not employed by the government that have bad intentions. There is no 100% foolproof defense.
One other bit you neglected to mention is that this tripe is manufactured by Michael Goldfarb who among other things is the Research Associate for the Project for the New American Century.
Surely you must remember this group authored the words "Further, the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event – like a new Pearl Harbor." just prior to the attacks on Sept. 11th 2001.
He is also the same Michael Goldfarb, a neoconservative American political writer who is Senior Vice President of Orion Strategies LLC
Making mountains out of mole hills for political gain is what this guy does for a living.
You can continue believing his scare tactics or seek out the truth, you decide.
Yes there was a cyber attack. This is not the doing of the administration but of outside actors. Yes, it was blocked. This means the White House electronic security did its job.
Of course, your article spent so much energy trying to find an angle from which it could fault the Obama administration it overlooked the fact that Congress failed to pass a comprehensive cyber security bill because Republicans were concerned about unnecessary costs for business. This meant that any upgrade in the security systems will depend on an executive order to accomplish anything.