Author Topic: Pennsylvania Company Discovers Marine One Security Breach (Read 4420 times)

thundley4 · « **on:** March 01, 2009, 07:47:59 AM »

"WASHINGTON, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- A file-sharing program in a defense contractor's computer system allowed outside access to data on the U.S. president's helicopter, a monitor says.
Bob Boback, the chief executive officer of Tiversa, told WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh his company found blueprints and avionics information on Marine One at a computer network in Tehran. Tiversa, based in Cranberry, Pa., traced the information back to a Maryland company where an employee apparently downloaded a file-sharing program.

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

Boback said his company notified the federal government of the security breach.

In addition to Iran, China, Pakistan, Qatar and Yemen appear to be looking for sensitive information made available by file-sharing, Boback said.

Marine One is one of several Navy helicopters used to transport the president." Ooops

I'm thinking that someone is going to be in deep doodoo.

Chris_ · « **Reply #1 on:** March 01, 2009, 08:39:32 AM »

Well this is just disturbing:

Quote

Report: Pennsylvania Company Discovers Marine One Security Breach
Sensitive information about Marine One was reportedly found by Tiversa employees at an IP address in Tehran, Iran.
FOXNews.com
Sunday, March 01, 2009

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

Sensitive information about Marine One was reportedly found by Tiversa employees at an IP address in Tehran.

Tiversa CEO Bob Boback said a defense contractor in Bethesda, Md., had a file sharing program on one of their systems that contained highly sensitive blueprints for Marine One and financial information about the cost of the helicopter.

"We found a file containing entire blueprints and avionics package for Marine One," Boback said.

Boback said the issue most likely stemmed from someone downloading the file-sharing program without realizing the problems that could result.

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

"We found where this information came from. We know exactly what computer it 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," Retired Gen. Wesley Clark, an adviser to Tiversa, told WPXI

http://www.wpxi.com/news/18818589/detail.html

Thor · « **Reply #2 on:** March 01, 2009, 09:01:36 AM »

Actually, one can find most of the information on the VH-3 online.

This article is much ado about nothing. I found the COMPLETE data on the H-46 online a few years ago. It was a Navy Training course syllabus.

thundley4 · « **Reply #3 on:** March 01, 2009, 09:12:44 AM »

Quote from: Thor on March 01, 2009, 09:01:36 AM

Actually, one can find most of the information on the VH-3 online. This article is much ado about nothing. I found the COMPLETE data on the H-46 online a few years ago. It was a Navy Training course syllabus.

But would that include whatever modifications have been made specifically to Marine 1? I got the idea that is what the cause for alarm was.

Chris_ · « **Reply #4 on:** March 01, 2009, 11:08:41 AM »

Exactly what Thundley said.

(sorry for the duplicate post of this - I looked before posting, but didn't see this thread till now)

Quote from: Thor on March 01, 2009, 09:01:36 AM

Actually, one can find most of the information on the VH-3 online. This article is much ado about nothing. I found the COMPLETE data on the H-46 online a few years ago. It was a Navy Training course syllabus.

You did not find the COMPLETE on Marine One.
Big difference in the Navy Training manual and the version that flies as Marine One.

BlueStateSaint · « **Reply #5 on:** March 01, 2009, 11:15:59 AM »

Quote from: Kay on March 01, 2009, 11:08:41 AM

Exactly what Thundley said.

(sorry for the duplicate post of this - I looked before posting, but didn't see this thread till now)

You did not find the COMPLETE on Marine One.
Big difference in the Navy Training manual and the version that flies as Marine One.

Specifically, the countermeasures. That is a big thing.

Bluesuiter-Retired · « **Reply #6 on:** March 01, 2009, 09:49:13 PM »

Could this be another of those infamous democrat leaks of classified data to the media?

Sen Leahy, during the mid 1980s, leaked classified intelligence information to the media. His only punishment was losing his seat on the senate intelligence committee.

Sen Kerry, during a televised senate hearing, divulging the name of at least two undercover CIA operatives.

rich_t · « **Reply #7 on:** March 01, 2009, 10:16:50 PM »

Quote from: BlueStateSaint on March 01, 2009, 11:15:59 AM

Specifically, the countermeasures. That is a big thing.

It's not all that hard to speculate on the type of countermeasures such an aircraft might have.

Tempest shielding, flares, chaff etc.

Bluesuiter-Retired · « **Reply #8 on:** March 01, 2009, 10:35:23 PM »

Weasel Cluck is involved with the company which "accidently" leaked??????????

rich_t · « **Reply #9 on:** March 02, 2009, 12:46:32 AM »

Ooops.

Broken Lock.

Thor · « **Reply #10 on:** March 02, 2009, 05:49:42 AM »

Quote from: Kay on March 01, 2009, 11:08:41 AM

Exactly what Thundley said.

(sorry for the duplicate post of this - I looked before posting, but didn't see this thread till now)

You did not find the COMPLETE on Marine One.
Big difference in the Navy Training manual and the version that flies as Marine One.

I dunno, I found enough information on the H-46, which I reported to ComNavAirPac, to be concerned. It turned out the the entire FRAMP program on several Navy Helicopters was available online. When they discuss classified equipment, it causes me great concern. I won't discuss what may or may not be aboard HMX-1's VH-3Ds.

thundley4 · « **Reply #11 on:** March 02, 2009, 06:50:14 AM »

Heard on the news this morning that it was a high level executive at the company involved. (Fox and Friends) Also there was speculation that the government needs to crack down on file sharing and other ways of sharing info on the internet. That isn't good.

TheSarge · « **Reply #12 on:** March 02, 2009, 12:32:23 PM »

Further proof that Democrats can not be trusted with the security of this country.

I don't seem to remember this kind of thing happening the previous 8 years.

But we heard a LOT about it during the reign of Billy Jeff.

Chris_ · « **Reply #13 on:** March 02, 2009, 01:02:23 PM »

I'm hearing rumors through Beck and others that this may have been done by the company heads INTENTIONALLY, in order to justify proposals for a completely re-vamped Marine One platform.

TheSarge · « **Reply #14 on:** March 02, 2009, 01:03:35 PM »

Quote from: DefiantSix on March 02, 2009, 01:02:23 PM

I'm hearing rumors through Beck and others that this may have been done by the company heads INTENTIONALLY, in order to justify proposals for a completely re-vamped Marine One platform.

I thought they are already building a new Marine One in Italy?

Chris_ · « **Reply #15 on:** March 02, 2009, 06:19:38 PM »

The new Marine One fleet was already in the works before Barry was even elected.

diesel driver · « **Reply #16 on:** March 04, 2009, 05:19:14 PM »

Quote from: TxRadioguy on March 02, 2009, 01:03:35 PM

I thought they are already building a new Marine One in Italy?

I think they are building 30 of them, but somebody in Zero's cabinet (it might have been the VP) let it leak when complaining about "Defense Department Overcharges"....

Crazy Horse · « **Reply #17 on:** March 04, 2009, 05:44:36 PM »

This shit is rolling downhill on this breech of security.

rich_t · « **Reply #18 on:** March 04, 2009, 05:50:56 PM »

Quote from: Crazy Horse on March 04, 2009, 05:44:36 PM

This shit is rolling downhill on this breech of security.

As well it should.

thundley4 · « **Reply #19 on:** March 04, 2009, 05:55:17 PM »

Quote from: rich_t on March 04, 2009, 05:50:56 PM

As well it should.

I disagree, it should stop with the person that was caught with the file sharing program on their computer that gave the secrets out.

rich_t · « **Reply #20 on:** March 04, 2009, 05:59:40 PM »

Quote from: thundley4 on March 04, 2009, 05:55:17 PM

I disagree, it should stop with the person that was caught with the file sharing program on their computer that gave the secrets out.

I assumed (I know.. my bad), that is what CH was inferring.

Chris_ · « **Reply #21 on:** March 08, 2009, 10:48:52 AM »

Here's a WSJ story with more on the new presidential helicopters contract:

Quote

President Puts Defense Contractors on Notice: Crackdown on Costs Is Coming
By AUGUST COLE

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama fired a surprise broadside at the defense industry, saying he intends to clamp down on practices that have resulted in billions of dollars in cost overruns and delays in recent years.

At a time when Washington faces the prospect of bailing out multiple sectors of the economy, contractors' cost overruns are showing up on the radar of many in the capital. And the Pentagon, which spends about $330 billion a year to buy everything from fighters to paper clips, is a particular focus of the new administration.

Mr. Obama has singled out the defense industry as one of the most wasteful. Last year, the Government Accountability Office found that 95 major Defense Department weapons contracts were over budget by a total of $295 billion -- though some point out that the GAO's figure includes legitimate changes to some contracts.

"In this time of great challenges, I recognize the real choice between investments that are designed to keep the American people safe and those that are designed to make a defense contractor rich," the president said Wednesday.

Whether Mr. Obama's rhetoric translates into action will be known in April, when the Defense Department releases a 2010 detailed budget, which once was thought to be effectively off limits for big changes by the new administration.

One high-profile example of cost overruns is the Marine One helicopter that is supposed to start ferrying Mr. Obama from the south lawn of the White House beginning in 2011. At a Feb. 23 news conference on the economic crisis, Mr. Obama called the program "an example of the procurement process gone amok" and said he thought the current fleet could suffice.

Lockheed Martin Corp. unseated incumbent United Technologies Corp.'s Sikorsky Aircraft for the chance to build the helicopter in 2005. At the time, the contract to build 23 helicopters was valued at $6.1 billion. On its current course, the VH-71 program would cost taxpayers about $13.2 billion for 28 helicopters, according to a person familiar with the situation. That works out to about $470 million apiece.

However, a tough Pentagon review triggered by cost overruns could result in a major restructuring or even cancellation of the project.

To be sure, the government has radically altered its specifications for the craft, requiring major redesigns of key components. But Lockheed and its partner, Agusta Westland, a unit of Italy's Finmeccanica Spa, have had their share of costly setbacks attributable to their failure to accurately estimate the complexity of such a task. Budget cuts also led to delays.

The military and the Secret Service want the most robust helicopter ever built, capable of flying the president through wartime conditions. Design changes have been so great it will be impossible to upgrade the first batch of five helicopters to match later ones.

Rep. John Murtha, the Pennsylvania Democrat who heads the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, wants to upgrade the fleet with the first version, but said he has told Pentagon officials that "we're not going to pay $500 million for one helicopter, period."

Jeff Bantle, who heads Lockheed's VH-71 program, said the first five choppers are almost done and will be delivered in April or May. Excluding research and development, they will cost about $120 million each, and a full fleet could be bought for the original value of the contract, he said. "We'll build whatever the president and the Navy say they need to do the mission," Mr. Bantle said.

A Navy spokesman declined to comment, citing the Pentagon review.

A decision about the helicopters, which will be in service for decades, underscores the long-term consequences that will result from budget-driven decisions on weapons spending.

Tradeoffs between affordability and capability drive the increasingly public sparring over further spending on big-ticket weapons programs -- such as Lockheed's F-22 fighters that cost the Air Force at least $143 million each, missile-defense systems, and Boeing Co. and SAIC Inc.'s more than $200 billion Army modernization effort, called Future Combat Systems.

"The pendulum swings, and it is swinging back right now," a defense-industry executive said. "When the pendulum swings back, it hits the guilty and the innocent."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123638888403658683.htmlhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB123638888403658683.html

John Murtha's on it......

Crazy Horse · « **Reply #22 on:** March 08, 2009, 11:36:25 AM »

Quote from: rich_t on March 04, 2009, 05:59:40 PM

I assumed (I know.. my bad), that is what CH was inferring.

No I was talking about all the Bullshit and new hoops I have to jump through or wade through to do my damn job

All the extra training.....................all this take things five levels past where they need to be just to be sure.

thundley4 · « **Reply #23 on:** March 08, 2009, 07:47:49 PM »

Quote from: Kay on March 08, 2009, 10:48:52 AM

Here's a WSJ story with more on the new presidential helicopters contract:

John Murtha's on it......

It's my opinion that any contractor that gives money to lobbyists or campaigns should be suspect, and so should the pols taking their money.

News:

Author Topic: Pennsylvania Company Discovers Marine One Security Breach (Read 4420 times)