DHS acknowledges own computer break-ins

[Ken DiPietro]

DHS acknowledges own computer break-ins
By TED BRIDIS, Associated Press Writer//

The Homeland Security Department, the lead U.S. agency for fighting  
cyber threats, suffered more than 800 hacker break-ins, virus  
outbreaks and other computer security problems over two years, senior  
officials acknowledged to Congress.

In one instance, hacker tools for stealing passwords and other files  
were found on two internal Homeland Security computer systems. The  
agency's headquarters sought forensic help from the department's own  
Security Operations Center and the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness  
Team it operates with Carnegie Mellon University.

In other cases, computer workstations in the Coast Guard and the  
Transportation Security Administration were infected with malicious  
software detected trying to communicate with outsiders; laptops were  
discovered missing; and agency Web sites suffered break-ins.

The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Bennie  
Thompson, D-Miss., said such problems undermine the government's  
efforts to encourage companies and private organizations to improve  
cyber security.

"What the department is doing on its own networks speaks so loudly  
that the message is not getting across," Thompson said.

Congressional investigators, expected to testify Wednesday during an  
oversight hearing about the department's security lapses, determined  
that persistent weaknesses "threaten the confidentiality, integrity  
and availability of key DHS information and information systems,"  
according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office  
being released later in June.

The Homeland Security Department's chief information officer, Scott  
Charbo, assured lawmakers his organization was working to prevent  
such problems.

"We need to increase our vigilance to ensure that such incidents do  
not happen again," Charbo wrote in testimony prepared for Wednesday's  
hearing. "The department takes these incidents very seriously and  
will work diligently to ensure they do not recur."

The computer problems disclosed to the House Homeland Security  
subcommittee occurred during fiscal 2005 and fiscal 2006, and  
occurred at DHS headquarters and many of the department's agencies,  
including TSA, the Coast Guard, Federal Emergency Management Agency,  
Customs and Border Protection and others.

The subcommittee's chairman, Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., said break- 
ins to government computer networks and theft of information are "one  
of the most critical issues confronting our nation, and we must deal  
with this threat immediately."

All the problems involved the department's unclassified computer  
networks, although DHS officials also have acknowledged to lawmakers  
dozens of incidents they described as "classified spillage," in which  
secret information was improperly transmitted or discussed over  
nonsecure e-mail systems.

The story is published here:
<http://tinyurl.com/37eclh>




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