Why so little concern over the Office of Personnel Management hack?
After all, it’s probably the worst cyber-breach the U.S. has ever experienced, as Megan McArdle points out.
And yet if you were to do a survey of most of your friends on the matter, many of them may be unaware of it, or only vaguely aware, and mostly uncaring.
Why? McArdle thinks the cause is a combination of the fact that Obama doesn’t care and the public doesn’t demand that he care. But that still begs the question: why? Why not care about something so outrageous?
I think the answer is that Obama would care if it had been the fault of Bush or the Republicans. But if he can’t blame them—and if he himself may be at least partly at fault—he’s certainly not going to become aroused. Instead, his kneejerk reaction will be to minimize and coverup.
And the MSM is still his servant in that regard, as well as the servant of the Democratic Party. Be quiet about what implicates them, be very vocal about what implicates the right, and the public will follow your lead.
But there’s more to it than that. The OPM fiasco reflects poorly on the competence of the federal government to handle much of anything. It can’t even seem to put in place the most basic of security in such a delicate and sensitive area. If it can’t do that, what else can it not do? To the left, that’s a dangerous thought.
its not the worst…
the recent kaspersky is also interesting
and then there is the virus the chinese put in the hard drive chips… which is far worse
Rakshasa: The hardware backdoor that China could embed in every computer
At the Black Hat security conference last week, assembly master and long-time security consultant Jonathan Brossard demonstrated a proof-of-concept hardware backdoor. Called Rakshasa (which are unrighteous spirits in Hindu and Buddhist mythoi), this backdoor is persistent, very hard to detect, portable, and because it’s built using open-source tools (Coreboot, SeaBIOS, and iPXE) it could be used by governments and still grant them plausible deniability.
-=-=-=-=-=-
the reason its not such a big deal is confidence
the confidence of the people in their systems is more important and so, a lot of this stuff is not reported or hits mainstream.
i have mentioned some of it, but as anyone can tell, it never gets traction.
the thing is that this has implications to the financial systems
it has implications to goverment security… spying, industrial espionage and more…
the scariest part is the military…
the USS donald cook was completey disabled by a Su24 that buzzed by it…
As the Russian jet approached the US vessel, the electronic device disabled all radars, control circuits, systems, information transmission, etc. on board the US destroyer. In other words, the all-powerful Aegis system, now hooked up – or about to be – with the defense systems installed on NATO’s most modern ships was shut down, as turning off the TV set with the remote control.
-=-=-=-=-=-
as i point out, there is a war coming as all this stuff is pointing to it.. and you can see the tests, which are then hidden and then forgotten in front of you as one is not putting it together.
from cutting the cables to communication in the sea
to the missile off of california that we were told to be convinced wasnt a missile, and mistaken contrails (how many did we mistake before, and now years later, how many did we mistake after? zero and zero)
the new military equipment, the 500% increase in spending, the bases being built int he china sea, the russians bombers running at defenses so much without radio, flight plans, etc… to the point that they are afriad there will be an air collision… test invasions to see what the presidential response would be, and more
there is so much stuff that one cant list it..
neo would shorten the post…
the state has been playing the population as fools since the politigos got in bed with globalists as a norm… from at least when clinton, the fulbright scholar educated in soviet russia who beame president, and his wife, whose college thesis was marx was correct… and on and on.
there are enough people in place to really screw up any kind of response to any kind of crisis, let alone 10 of them at once.
you think obama is bad on economy?
how is he at being commander in chief during a war?
how about if biden takes over?
According to some specialized media, 27 sailors from the USS Donald Cook requested to be relieved from active service.
yeah… would you want to serve on a ship that can be made defensless and then one is free to remove? capture?
new tanks, new nuclear bombs, rebuild of yamentau mountain, economic destabilization games, new tanks, new ships, planes, electronic warfare items
and what for? the countries we are talking about here are the ones that START fights… without them staring the fights what would they need this stuff for? the US is not invading, no one else is building up… but the chinese and russians are doing that and fast…
People are just fatigued with all the FAILURES of the Obama Administration.
This is surprising considering how smart all of them are. Just ask Barack!
People are apathetic because no matter how hard they care, they KNOW nothing will happen. Obama is an affliction that must be endured for another year and a half.
There’s nothing that can be done about him now.
My only hope is that the many Congressional panels are saving up their evidence for the day Obama is out of office. If there’s any hope of restoring this country’s morality, there must be a reckoning. No more sweeping things under the rug.
Artful, the story about the Donald Cook is complete dezinformatsiya and maskirovka from Russia. Completely fake. You, of all people, should know better.
As you well know Neo, there’s virtually no end to what the goverment can’t do.
The relationship between this administration and the federal bureaucracy is much like that between a corrupt teacher in a poor university who will give the students full reign, little discipline or rigor, and pass out good grades in exchange for a favorable evaluation from the same students at the end of term.
More than anything else, this has been the administration dedicated to serving the worst impulses of the civil service and its union leadership.
Accountability does not enter into this equation.
Art, the VERY last thing that Moscow would do would be to reveal that they had such a technical capability.
I cite the Enigma busting program at Bletchley Park.
SHAEF performed hand springs to hide its reality.
neo…
The key personalities in this fiasco were slotted by Barry, himself, all being in his Purple book.
When you roll down the list of Barry’s ‘purples’ it’s impossible to not note the impressive representation of mulattoes in their ranks.
For Barry, everything starts with race, and race-identity.
I’m just holding out that, with all of our data in hand, the Chinese hackers will now be so kind as to fix our government’s IT systems.
I don’t think that’s too much to ask.
I agree with Matt_SE that people are apathetic because they know nobody is going to do anything about Obama.
But I disagree that what we’re seeing is a result of incompetence. Barack Obama hates America, and he is complicit in these things. There was no breach. There was no hack. Obama’s OPM outsourced cybersecurity to the Chinese, and gave them root access.
In other words Obama used taxpayer money to pay the Chinese to take that data. You can hardly call it stealing.
I’ve heard some people compare security at OPM to leaving your doors and windows open and going it out, hoping nobody would come in and steal anything. But it’s worse than that. They didn’t just leave the doors and windows open. They then hired felons fresh out of prison to clean the place.
After all, as far as Democrats are concerned, the White House is only a rental. Why not steal the silver as the Clintons did. And if the voters are stupid enough to elect an anti-American as President, why shouldn’t he take full advantage of the situation and not only take us personally for everything he wants, but let his communist friends help themselves, too.
The only reason Obama hasn’t fired Archuleta at OPM is because he’s happy with the situation.
I agree with Richard Saunders about the EW attack on the Donald Cook. But there’s one part of the story Artfldgr relates that I believe.
“27 sailors from the USS Donald Cook requested to be relieved from active service.”
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/mar/25/sailors-leaving-navy-over-stress-on-social-issues-/
“A Navy F-18 fighter pilot and former Top Gun instructor is publicly warning admirals that retention is beginning to suffer from the military’s relentless social conditioning programs.
Cmdr. Guy Snodgrass, until recently a Pentagon speech writer for the chief of naval operations, Adm. Jonathan Greenert, said sailors are becoming fed-up with the constant emphasis on social issues – an apparent reference to gays in the military, women in combat and ending sexual harassment.
“Sailors continue to cite the over-focus on social issues by senior leadership, above and beyond discussions on war fighting – a fact that demoralizes junior and mid-grade officers alike,” Cmdr. Snodgrass wrote this month on the U.S. Naval Institute website, an independent forum for active and retired sailors and Marines.”
The US Naval Institute website is becoming something like the Samizdat in the old USSR, with this administration.
http://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2014-01/deckplates-do-not-use-job
” Criticism of DEOMI last October involved a lesson on Power and Privilege, chapter EOAC-3000 of the Equal Opportunity Advisor Course student guide. The chapter emphasizes how “power and privilege can sometimes create exclusive work environments at the expense of others” and introduces students to the concept of white privilege. Two themes of that chapter deserve scrutiny. The first is that white males gain privileges and success through “unearned advantage.” The second is the assumption that “racism is everywhere.”
DEOMI defines white privilege as “the package of unearned advantages granted to those members of a diverse society with white skin.” Discussion of the concept explains that whites today benefit unfairly from historical institutional racism. By logical extension, that argument means whites–the text emphasizes white men–who achieve some level of status do so unfairly, suggesting their accomplishments are undeserved.
…According to DEOMI, we must assume racism is a daily occurrence in every facet of the military: our pay, promotion, and award systems; our selection of leaders; assignment of professionals; and virtually every other DOD program.
…Likely anticipating controversy, DEOMI labeled the chapter on Power and Privilege with the phrases “FOR TRAINING PURPOSES ONLY” and “DO NOT USE ON THE JOB” [emphasis not added]. These phrases, which appear only once, will not prevent the concepts and conclusions from influencing equal opportunity advisers in the force. In fact, parts of the chapter are quite directive. One such area is a section detailing how advisers should seek to become a “strong white ally” so they can “increase their social, political, and economic power” as means for overcoming racism and discrimination. This is also where students are instructed to “assume racism is everywhere” while also being told to “attack the source of power” as a strategy for combating racism. These are not lessons intended for training purposes only; they are meant to shape adviser behaviors. “
Then there’s this:
http://cdrsalamander.blogspot.com/2015/06/diversity-thursday.html
“Here, sadly, is the the VCNO, who is starting to behave in a manner that only validates her critics. Behold!
‘We celebrate the idea that women and men should share the burden of citizenship on the battlefield as well as have equal rights to vote, to run for public office, to shape the direction and laws of our countries. We are afforded the opportunity to make our visions happen and our voices heard with matched enthusiasm. We are granted uniform expectations. Equality and civic engagement are germane to our role and entitlement as citizens.
However, equality and gender integration are areas where numbers and percentages matter. Sheer numbers of women can mean all the difference between a culture of acceptance or an environment of prejudice. The magnitude and impact of what you can “make happen” becomes mightily constrained if your voice is lost because it is the sole feminine sound in the office, in the government or in leadership.
Once you attain a certain size of cohort, you reach a point where challenges diminish. Some refer to this threshold of presence as critical mass. Once you reach this level, issues like tokenism and stereotypes, that are filters for communication and understanding, start to fall away. There are enough women to build shared and common experiences with men…'”
She’s talking quotas, folks. For SEALs. And while parroting this leftist idiocy she’s preaching the exact opposite of reality. Attaining her “certain size of cohort” will be a disaster. Just look at the recent failure of a single woman to pass the Marine IOC or the Army Ranger course. So now the leftists are preparing the battlefield for their assault on standards across the board.
The SEALs ain’t gonna have it. No more than the regular sailors are going to put up with this.
So I believe Artfldgr’s story to the extent that 27 sailors stated they want to leave active duty. And I suspect many more from the Donald Cook secretly hope to do the same.
And I assert all this destruction, from troop morale to the OPM heist, is the deliberate action of the Obama administration. There is no incompetence here.
Why we have standards:
http://www.casematepublishing.com/dlc/9781935149361/America's%20First%20Clash%20with%20Iran-Ch01.pdf
“At a range of 32-1/2 nautical miles, the Iraqi fighter began flying directly toward the Stark, rapidly closing the distance between them. No one in the Stark’s CIC seemed to notice that the Iraqi jet was now headed straight at them. At 9:07 P.M., the pilot of the Mirage fired one of his Exocet missiles at a blip on his radar screen. The missile was launched at a range of 22 nautical miles and would take some two minutes
to reach its target. The Stark was running with its navigation lights blazing, completely unaware that an Exocet was now streaking toward it at 550 miles per hour.
…About a minute after firing its first missile, the Mirage fired another Exocet at the Stark. The second missile was launched at a range of 15 nautical miles. At about the same time, the Stark finally broadcast a warning on the Military Air Distress Frequency”
It’s a grim read; I won’t quote anymore, but after the CO/XO screwed up those sailors went through hell saving their ship. And damage control is hard, heavy work. And by heavy I mean hauling pumps and generators up and down ladders into smoke filled spaces so hot the soles of your boots melt. When I last heard (20 years ago) 90% of the women in boot camp could not handle the damage control equipment.
Either they stopped collecting/publicizing such data, or the damage control equipment has been “shamed” into being less sexist. I’m betting on the former rather than the latter.
The bottom line is I don’t think the Russians need a magic EW bullet to destroy us. Obama is just as good. And you’ll never convince me the guy who promised Vlad that he could be more flexible after his final election isn’t doing all this on purpose.
Back in 1963 the Navy was almost exclusively Caucasian. But in 1964 the word went out to recruit “qualified” minorities. Two young black officers arrived in our squadron. Some of the squadron expected that they might be “unqualified.’ – that is, affirmative action recruits. They were under keen observation. Would they be screw ups? After about three months it became clear that these two were qualified. In fact, they were damn good. From that point on no one noticed or cared about the color of their skin. I would like to believe that the minorities and females are cutting the mustard today. But it sounds like the military social engineering is proceeding all ahead flank in spite of the evidence that not all are capable of doing the job. It is to weep.
Jimmy J:
http://www.uscg.mil/history/articles/Carlton_Skinner.asp
“U.S.S. Sea Cloud, IX-99,
Racial Integration for Naval Efficiency
…The proposal had to be and was based solely on military and naval effectiveness. This was because, first, that was the origin of the idea; second, because I was sure that it was the only legitimate basis for considering a plan for racial integration of the armed forces during wartime…”
There was a purpose for integrating the military and naval forces (which Wilson and the progressive left never should have segregated). Blacks could clearly do the job. They had done the job. When Wilson and his fellow Democrats, racists all, during or shortly after WWI closed the Navy off to blacks except for rates like Messman or Steward, there were still Torpedomen and Gunner’s mates in the enlisted ranks when WWII broke out.
Also what broke out were race riots. Black sailors wanted to go to sea but there were only so many opportunities for Stewards and Messmen. White sailors resented the fact they had back to back war patrols at sea while black sailors got all the shore assignments.
What people forget is that the military didn’t integrate to empower blacks. There was actually a requirement for it. But we’ve dropped that standard, and are now doing all kinds of stupid stuff because of our collective amnesia. No one asks, as CDR Skinner did, will this be better for the service or worse?
It’s just not a consideration. To ask the question is to end your career. Yes, the military and naval forces successfully integrated racially. But why that is? That’s lost. It can’t be duplicated in other areas, so it’s forced upon the services.
With the King v. Burwell decision looming on the horizon, which will decide if a poorly written law is to be enforced as written or as claimed to be intended, this OPM fiasco would shine a light on government incompetence and then trickle down to the incompetence of government run 404Care. Can’t be making dots for the LIVs to connect. Better for the Fainting Couch Media to ignore the OPM ramifications, just as they are ignoring the King v. Burwell ramifications. Then the media can put on their shocked face when they finally do report on such stories.
And I assert all this destruction, from troop morale to the OPM heist, is the deliberate action of the Obama administration. There is no incompetence here.
It was deliberate in 2009. HRC’s sabotage of the body armor in Iraq, was also deliberate, for political gain at the expense of military lives.
You, of all people, should know better.
Art doesn’t know any better. What Art knows comes from the brains and hands of defectors, warriors, or tacticians. People who wrote books, for him to read, but didn’t transfer their judgment skills over. How could they, it’s only a book.
So Art can’t tell the difference between Russian disinformation and defector information. That needs an extra layer to judge the information in books and in people.
Neo:
But there’s more to it than that. The OPM fiasco reflects poorly on the competence of the federal government to handle much of anything. It can’t even seem to put in place the most basic of security in such a delicate and sensitive area.
The State Department is abandoning the Chinese-owned NYC Waldorf Astoria as its base of operations for US diplomats and staff during the UN General Assembly. The Department didn’t explain why, but China’s recent hack of OPM personnel records probably emphasized that the Chinese cannot be trusted to respect the privacy of US personnel while at the hotel…
It was not immediately clear whether the Waldorf residence of the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations would be moved to another location. The State Department has leased an apartment for the ambassador on the 42nd floor of the hotel’s Waldorf Towers for more than 50 years.
Roll Drums…
My thoughts on this important subject from a frequent reader. The reasons are political but not only political.
http://www.blackliszt.com/2015/06/systemic-issues-behind-the-cyber-security-disasters-at-opm-citi-anthem-etc.html
Pingback:Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup » Pirate's Cove