ATC Systems "Hack-able" ??

[Jay Beckman]

From MSNBC.com...

< http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9503338/ >

Jay Beckman
PP-ASEL
AZ Cloudbusters
Chandler, AZ

[Icebound]

"Jay Beckman" > wrote in message
news:8_h_e.287791$E95.24405@fed1read01...
> From MSNBC.com...
>
> < http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9503338/ >
>


I'm betting that pretty much anything is hackable... by somebody..., and if
not today, then tomorrow, and if not tomorrow, then next week, month, or
year.

And it depends a little on your definition of "hacking". Some hacks are
easier than others, I would think.

Is it:

Looking?
Destroying?
Modifying?
Denying access?
Slowing access and/or operation?

Any of the above for the operation (the programs, the "executable").

Then repeat all of the above again, for the data, and repeat once more for
the hardware and infrastructure.


There are probably very few systems in the world about which you could not
say that they "lack important controls".

It may mean a little as finding an entry-level programmer's password easy to
crack. Or it could mean that the door to the computer room didn't lock
properly once.

Or...it could mean that a teenager in GoHackStan can shut down the whole
system with nothing more than a dialup modem and a 1982 Commodore.

It could also mean that a legitimate employee takes copies of the source
code home on the bus. Not that long ago we exalted such people because they
were "dedicated". Today we revile them because they are security risks.

[A Guy Called Tyketto]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Jay Beckman > wrote:
> From MSNBC.com...
>
> < http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9503338/ >
>

It would be interesting to know which OS the article claims to
be running on. According to http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/7066 ,
the FAA started to use Linux to run ARTS, in spring 2003. I don't think
this would be susceptable to the common M$ Windows cracker.

BL.
- --
Brad Littlejohn | Email:
Unix Systems Administrator, |
Web + NewsMaster, BOFH.. Smeghead! :) | http://www.sbcglobal.net/~tyketto
PGP: 1024D/E319F0BF 6980 AAD6 7329 E9E6 D569 F620 C819 199A E319 F0BF

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.2 (GNU/Linux)

iD8DBQFDOcYtyBkZmuMZ8L8RAtf7AKDCkwKuhAGE9run/ArO2MoPig1OrgCfTSOQ
OxJLHUh0JkXcHCl6lDf40Hc=
=lEWR
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

[Greg Copeland]

On Tue, 27 Sep 2005 22:42:39 +0000, A Guy Called Tyketto wrote:

> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
>
> Jay Beckman > wrote:
>> From MSNBC.com...
>>
>> < http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9503338/ >
>>
>
> It would be interesting to know which OS the article claims to
> be running on. According to http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/7066 ,
> the FAA started to use Linux to run ARTS, in spring 2003. I don't think
> this would be susceptable to the common M$ Windows cracker.
>

Regardless of what OS they run, anything is hackable...save only for a
computer turned off AND unplugged.

Most people don't realize but the greatest threat to any computer's
security comes from within. And, this is where security is almost always
the most lax. Granted, Linux offers many advantages but being "hacker
proof" is not one of them.

Greg