Archive for the 'Infrastructure' Category
Every Military Net Accessed at Once, Thanks to ‘OB1’
January 31st, 2009Machines that are physically connected to the public internet are going to share physical connections with classified networks. * grin * What could possibly go wrong? If the hacker owns the hypervisor, he/she owns all data traversing the hypervisor and is in a position to sample, redirect, or spoof anything. Without some form of fail-safe, […]
Fannie Mae Logic Bomb Would Have Caused Weeklong Shutdown
January 30th, 2009Via: Wired: A logic bomb allegedly planted by a former engineer at mortgage finance company Fannie Mae last fall would have decimated all 4,000 servers at the company, causing millions of dollars in damage and shutting down Fannie Mae for a least a week, prosecutors say. Unix engineer Rajendrasinh Babubha Makwana, 35, was indicted (.pdf) […]
30GB Zunes Failing Everywhere, All At Once
December 31st, 2008Cylons attack? Probably not. Anyway, there’s an object lesson in critical infrastructure here, even though this situation involves digital music players. Via: Ars: Around midnight Pacific time last night, 30GB Zunes began restarting and locking up at their boot screens. Reports have swamped official forums and fan sites, and Microsoft has yet to officially comment […]
Three Out of Four Undersea Cables Connecting Internet Traffic Between the Middle East and Europe Have Been Cut
December 20th, 2008Via: PC Magazine: European telecommunications providers reported Friday that three out of the four telecommunication cables connecting Internet traffic between the Middle East and Europe had been cut. In a statement, France Telecom reported that the “Sea Me We 4” cable was cut at 7:28 AM local time, the “Sea Me We3” was severed at […]
Mediterranean Fiber Optic Cables Cut, Disrupting Middle East Communications
December 19th, 2008Here we go again. Via: Bloomberg: Internet and telephone communications between the Middle East and Europe were disrupted by submarine cable failures between Italy and Egypt in the Mediterranean Sea. The failures cut the flow of “data of various kinds” between Europe and the Middle East, and there’s no timeframe for when communications will be […]
Toronto Stock Exchange Suffers Daylong Trading Halt
December 18th, 2008Via: Bloomberg: The Toronto Stock Exchange suffered a daylong trading disruption after a computer failure prevented quotes from being disseminated, causing the worst halt for a major market since September. Most trading on Canada’s biggest stock market didn’t begin on schedule at 9:30 a.m. in Toronto, and buying and selling was halted about 20 minutes […]
Citibank’s Computers Down, Blocking Account Info
December 17th, 2008Via: AP: Customers of New York City-based Citibank have lost access to much of their account information because of a computer outage. Many of the troubled bank’s clients haven’t been able to retrieve account details online or by telephone since Tuesday afternoon. Others can access only parts of their account profiles. Citibank telephone representatives say […]
FBI: Copper Thieves Jeopardize U.S. Infrastructure
December 5th, 2008I wonder if this will continue after the copper price crash??? Via: Network World: The FBI today ratcheted up the clamor to do something more substantive about the monumental growth of copper theft in the US. In a report issued today the FBI said the rising theft of the metal is threatening the critical infrastructure […]
Pirates Hijack Saudi Oil Tanker Off African Coast
November 18th, 2008Via: AFP: Pirates have seized control of the Saudi-owned oil super tanker Sirius Star off the east coast of Africa and are taking it towards a Somali port, the US Navy and the ship’s operator said. The 318,000 deadweight tonnes Very Large Crude Carrier is the largest vessel to be seized in an epidemic of […]
“Shaping a New World Order” During “Vigilant Shield”
November 14th, 2008Here’s the CNN headline: G-20: Shaping a New World Order. But look what’s going to be happening at the same time: Vigilant Shield. Via: Progressive: This week and into next, NorthCom and NORAD are conducting a joint exercise called “Vigilant Shield ’09.” The focus will be on “homeland defense and civil support,” a NorthCom press […]
