In an article on Australia’s The Age Thursday, an attack on the U.S. Pentagon is described as having caused the downing of up to 1500 computers.
As something that flew well under the radar in this country, it was surprising to see coverage of this abroad. Defense Secretary Robert Gates claimed that the affected computers would be working soon. Speaking about the adverse affects, it was revealed that the defense department personnel affected were still able to handle their duties because of use of BlackBerry handheld devices. Gates stated that redundant systems were in place, and that minor inconveniences and administrative disruptions are the extent of the problem.
Unknown at the time of the post on Thursday, the investigation should produce some interesting results. Apparently the NSA was not consulted on this, because this is what the Secure Linux project is all about. Perhaps it will be revealed that some software with origins in Redmond, Washington were in use here.
When the secretary was asked about his personal e-mail being disrupted, he replied that he was a ‘low-tech’ person and did not do e-mail.
One can only hope that it will be discovered to be the work of some enterprising college students, from this country.
[tags] Pentagon, government, NSA, Robert Gates, Secure Linux, BlackBerry [/tags]