Major Cyber-assaults Hit NASA During 2010-11, the Agency Admits

The national station in USA for space research, NASA states that it actually encountered over 5,000 Internet assaults causing malware installation on its PCs during 2010-11, published SCMagazineUK.com dated March 2, 2012.

Explaining about this occurrence, Inspector General Paul K. Martin of NASA stated that a few of the PC-hacks might've got the support of other countries' intelligence services. SCMagazineUK.com published this.

Martin stated that the security breach incidences occurred variedly from individuals trying out personal dexterities to Web hackers infiltrating NASA systems, or properly planned criminal gangs executing data-hacks for monetary gains.

A few of the infiltrations, according to Martin, had impacted several thousand NASA PCs resulting in considerable interruptions in its mission operations as also leading to loss of sensitive data, with over $7m in computed cost to the Administration.

The IG reports that during 2011, a good 47 instances could be classified as the APT (Advanced Persistent Threat) group that comprised grave, hugely-funded as well as well-planned attacks for causing destruction. From among these, 13 led to the hijacking of NASA computers, with the user-credentials of 150 staff members that got filched.

In one more instance, someone with the help of a China-based IP address managed in acquiring full hold of the network deployed at JPL (Jet Propulsion Lab), implying the person could access, modify alternatively erase files, load malicious software, create fake user-accounts, as also alter system logs so his tracks remained hidden.

Martin added that owing to important data getting leaked out from certain NASA computers, there could be an adverse effect on the competitive technological ability of the country.

However, worse might follow i.e. considerable disruption could occur in NASA's operations since information technology networks were basic for everything about NASA's operations, he further added.

Meanwhile, cyber-attack events suggest the importance of hosting providers in remaining aware of the type of material, which organizations using their services, want to host in order that there can be appropriate preparations against any probable assaults.

Conclusively, all government agencies' or others' websites actually get actively targeted in Internet assaults therefore their defense procedures require getting dealt with suitably, Martin suggests.

Related article: Macro Virus Deceive Users With Infected Word Document

» SPAMfighter News - 3/13/2012