Posted on 12/01/2010 12:47:21 PM PST by kronic
Yes. It is easy. Not only that, but in Afghanistan the army had to send reps out to buy back whole harddrives and thumbdrives that local cleaning help were stealing, full of highly classified data.
And the leaked cables contain inroads that will probably make it possible to get at even more classified data, if the retards haven't managed to plug the holes.
Endpoint security is common these days in most commercial anti-virus solutions. My company's AV software has the capability to block the use of any recordable media including USB and CD/DVD.
It also has the capability to block the sending of documents/files containing personal infomation, SS#s and other data via email or uploading to websites via a browser.
Of course, having worked on fed.gov installations, I know that the feds can be decades behind in procurement of this sort of stuff.
I also find it very hard to believe that an Army PFC had THAT much access. And it was undetected until the documents started leaking out.
It’s possible and even easy to stop all this nonsense cold. It takes a modest amount of hardware and software, easy to implement. And of course, I’d want a patent and a royalty ;).
But I’ve been told that no market exists, because it may add a small amount to the cost of a PC. Security isn’t worth $5, far less $20.
Recruitment and retention goals. I wish it was more complicated, or nefarious, but it isn't. When you have a shooting war for the better part of 7-years (which was about the length when Manning enlisted), you're much more willing to look past these kinds of "deficiencies".
It's a little better now that the economy has been in the crapper for a couple years, and less people are dying. The military (again) looks like a reasonable career choice.
When my son started NROTC several years ago, there was no waiting line. Now, it's become a bit more selective again. Sadly, Bradly Manning wasn't the first problem, and he won't be the last. Such are the travails of an all volunteer Armed Forces in a time of war.
Seven years in and still a PFC ?
That should have set off alarms somewhere...
You sure are ignorant, and rude with it, too.
Slaves work hard. I’m talking about The American work ethic that made us special:
Puritan Work Ethic:
“The Puritans declared the sanctity of all honorable work. In so doing, they rejected a centuries-old division of callings into sacred and secular
This Puritan rejection of the dichotomy between sacred and secular work has far-reaching implications. It judges every honorable job to be of intrinsic value, and integrates every vocation with a Christians spiritual life. It makes every job consequential by regarding it as the arena for glorifying and obeying God and for expressing love (through service) to a neighbor.”
Puritan Work Ethic: the Dignity of Lifes Labors
Christianity Today, October 1979, p. 15
No, it's actually worse. He was a specialist (E-4), but was reduced after NJP for an assault he was involved in with a fellow soldier. The nature of that assault has yet to be fully explained.
It begs the question, what was the assault all about, and how did he maintain clearance even after reduction.
Well, yeah, but he made PFC six times during that period.
Oh, I should add that the scuttlebutt is that the Army had already initiated separation against him, which is another flag about his continued unfettered access.
Why is your opinion NSH? :-)
Why is your opinion NSH? :-)
“Why is your opinion NSH? :-)”
It’s my natural state.
It used to be that it was prohibitted from disclosing deployments and ship movements. Now they make it part of CNN Headline News! I think the whole line of classified and not classified got destroyed when Clinton shifted top secret stuff to State. From that point, Pandora’s Box just opened up.
My guess is that this can all be found out to go back to State. Those are the lifelong sellers of intelligence. Remember Sandy Berger and his socks? How can Berger go to CIA, Stael documents on camera, the president laugh about it, and then hold some private responsible for overwriting Lady Gaga?
Makes a lot of sense...especially since many of the files released were diplomatic and State Dept types of correspondance. No Army private is going to be privy to that...sounds like this private may be the Marius van der Lubbe for the Liberal Free Trader Globalists next bad move
...sounds like this private may be the Marius van der Lubbe for the Liberal Free Trader Globalists next bad move”
He was noted as early as high school to be a computer hacker.
It is extremely possible for a junior enlisted soldier to access and download classified information in the way that has been suggested. People claiming otherwise in this thread keep talking about their time in SCIFs and how that would never happen in a SCIF. If they actually had the experience they claim they do, they would remember that a SCIF is called that because it stores SCI, not secret. You do not need a SCIF to store secret material. By definition secret material is secured at a lower standard.
This will undoubtedly get me flamed, but what happened is 100% the result of Bush-era intelligence policies. EVERYTHING is classified now. Because of that, hundreds of thousands of soldiers have security clearances and access to classified information in their day-to-day jobs. The attitude of many, many people in the armed forces is “oh, it's only secret, it's no big deal.” And that is a recipe for exactly what happened in this case.
Troll alert!
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