Top secret systems belonging to the British government’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) have been breached by hackers, with a number of “serious incidents” hitting the department, according to one of the military’s senior figures.
Major General Jonathan Shaw, the head of the military’s cyber security operation, admitted the MoD’s network had been hacked, but would not be drawn into saying by whom or in what manner.
“The number of serious incidents is quite small, but it is there,” he told the Guardian. “And those are the ones we know about. The likelihood is there are problems in there we don’t know about.”
Shaw said the older generation running the show at the MoD needs to learn lessons from youngsters when it comes to security, embracing “wacky ideas” to best protect the nation’s secret. He suggested a bounty programme run by tech giants like Facebook and Google, in which financially rewards researchers who find vulnerabilities, could be the kind of idea the MoD should latch onto.
He also revealed next year’s MoD budget should get fresh funds for cyber defence. That may come from the £650 million pot the government has pledged for cyber security, which will cover the next few years until the General Election in 2015.
“I think it was a surprise to people this year quite how vulnerable we are, which is why the measures have survived so long in the [budget] because people have become aware of the vulnerabilities and are taking them seriously,” Shaw added. He also called for the development an array of cyber weapons.
Government infrastructure faces plenty of cyber attacks. Just yesterday, TechWeekEurope broke that a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack had crippled the Serious Organised Crime Agency’s (SOCA) website.
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If a youngster with Asperger's Syndrome can breech the Pentagon looking for aliens then we are not alone in having a problem
The article needs the gentle touch of a sub editor to sort it out.
A shielded wireless intranet with case locks and ALL external ports physically blocked off, coupled with a dedicated traffic monitor would reduce all their internal security problems back to and possibly beyond the old document photography method ...
... Just send me the money
What he is saying translates as 'My department wants more cash'. 'The bigger it is the more my grade and pension'
It is the exact same tactic the politicians use when they want to pass another unnecessary BigBrother law, they announce another newly discovered terrorist threat.
Make the people fear, then they will hand over their cash and freedom with thanks.
Cyber security just needs to put a wrist strap on the laptops to stop the numptys leaving them behind in trains , taxis, and night clubs.
And all HM Government Laptops & portable devices should be fully encrypted. Laptops with a key that is kept separate to the device like on their smartphone, because they will never remember the password.
If it sounds expensive go cheap. don't tell me authorities want people to stop harassing one another. Do everything that you do not normally do and that will probably confuse them.