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Draken

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    Romanian Man Indicted for Hacking NASA

    in Way Off-Topic

    Posted

    A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted a Romanian man for allegedly hacking into more than 150 different government computers, including machines in NASA, the Department of Energy, and the U.S. Navy.

     

    As a result of the intrusion and loss of data, which went on for about two years, NASA reportedly suffered $1.36 million in losses. The DoE and the Navy together reported a loss of near $100,000.

     

    Victor Faur, 26, of Arad, Romania, is the leader of the hacking group called The WhiteHat Team, according to Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the United States Attorney's Office in the Central District of California. The group's alleged goal is to hack into U.S. government computers because of their reputation as some of the most secure machines in the world, the USAO reported in a written release.

     

    Faur faces 10 counts -- one count of conspiracy and nine counts of computer intrusion. If he is convicted on all 10 counts, he would face a maximum sentence of 54 years in federal prison.

     

    Right now, Faur is being prosecuted by the Romanian government for unrelated computer crimes, according to Mrozek. He said he is not sure what the specific Romanian charges are.

    Mrozek said the next step is to get Faur onto U.S. soil so he can be prosecuted here. But that will have to wait until his Romanian prosecution is complete.

     

    "It is our intention to get him into the United States to face the charges, either by extradition or by other means," he said, adding that Faur could turn himself in to U.S. authorities or he could be picked up if he ever tries to cross country borders. "The timing largely depends on what happens with the Romanian prosecution."

     

    In the indictment, the government alleges that Faur hacked into and took control of government computers, causing the compromised machines to display messages "that flaunted the computer intrusion." Faur also allegedly forced the computers to act as chat rooms where he could communicate with other members of the WhiteHat Team.

     

    The government also claims Faur searched the compromised computers for passwords that he could use to gain unauthorized access to other computers. Some of the computers were used to collect and process data from spacecraft in Earth orbit or deep space, to evaluate new scientific technologies, and to collect, store and analyze other scientific data.

     

    In a written statement, the U.S. Attorney's Office said "NASA, the Energy Department, and the Navy could not rely upon the integrity of the data on the hacked computers. Therefore, systems had to be rebuilt, and scientists and engineers had to manually communicate with spacecraft."

     

    The investigation was run by NASA's Office of the Inspector General, the Department of Energy's Office of Inspector General, and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

     

    Link

     

    My first thought after reading the headline was "Damn it, Baley."

    My Boss Just Called

    in Way Off-Topic

    Posted

    At the convenience store I work at, the worst we had was this kid who would get high outside before every shift. It wasn't as amusing as you think. He'd yell at the customers and berate me for doing miniscule things such as stacking the Coke before Pepsi and dropping a customer's dime on the floor.

     

    Sadly, no Clerks.-esque activities plague my work.

    Canada Parliament recognizes Quebecers as a nation

    in Way Off-Topic

    Posted

    No, they have our supply of beer and hookers though. :(

     

    War.

    The World is a Ghetto!?

     

    I really hope that Quebec doesn't get invited to any more international meetings then. That would serve them right. And we should charge them a quarter every time they have to say, write or type the word 'Canada' as federal revenue for the rent on the land.

    That'd be pretty boss hogg, but then they might charge us for saying words like "poutine' and "carnivale".

     

    If The Q did split, something tells me they wouldn't really be taken seriously by other governments. Maybe it's just me and memories of a childhood where the little guy is the prime teasing material, but I mean, they don't really have much to offer as a country. No real exporting materials, a government that doesn't seem to me like they have any idea what they're doing...

    You know how Canada is referred to as America's little brother? Well, Quebec would be like, the little little brother, like, toddler style. Everyone would still think of them as Canadians.

     

    Again...I'm not too big into political arguments...I'm just saying what I think in the basest of terms.

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