OK, first of all, WHY the h--- are these machines connected to the internet (or any unsecure line)? Back when I worked for the DoE and DoD we were REQUIRED to make sure our machines had NO physical connections to the rest of the world.
Second, I'd bet that they were probably running SNMP with default passwords still on the boxes. I remember running a "proof-of-concept" demonstration for a firm in which I showed them how a malicious cracker could "melt" the computers in their server farm by changing the parameters on the thermostats in the server room.
Stupid computer novices =).
"I remember running a "proof-of-concept" demonstration for a firm in which I showed them how a malicious cracker could "melt" the computers in their server farm by changing the parameters on the thermostats in the server room."
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These are exactly the very dangerous things that can happen, not only hack the data, but can cause physical destruction.
There was an article a while ago about how Al Qaeda (or any terrorists) can open dams, destroy powergrids, etc., by hacking into computers.
Cyber-Attacks by Al Qaeda Feared