Skip to content

Ex GCHQ employee risk to national security

Discussion
4 2 903 1
  • Just seen this news article about a breach of security at GCHQ.

    https://news.sky.com/story/ex-gchq-employee-pleads-guilty-to-causing-risk-to-national-security-13339410

    Given this is GCHQ, the information taken was classified as “Top Secret” and in the wrong hands could cause the UK significant harm, you have to ask yourself about the level of “security” in place here.

    Surely, you’d have basic controls in place to prevent data leakage by at least locking down USB ports, and who on secondment has access to highly restricted areas??

    Crazy.

  • Just seen this news article about a breach of security at GCHQ.

    https://news.sky.com/story/ex-gchq-employee-pleads-guilty-to-causing-risk-to-national-security-13339410

    Given this is GCHQ, the information taken was classified as “Top Secret” and in the wrong hands could cause the UK significant harm, you have to ask yourself about the level of “security” in place here.

    Surely, you’d have basic controls in place to prevent data leakage by at least locking down USB ports, and who on secondment has access to highly restricted areas??

    Crazy.

    @phenomlab you would think they would have that security setup with strict policies. I mean even the hospital here as the usb ports locked down so you can’t use a usb drive or your phone to plug into the computer. Sometimes it makes me wonder if someone just forgot about that part or if there was something in that information they wanted leaked, which wouldn’t make sense if it puts people or a whole nation at risk.

  • @phenomlab you would think they would have that security setup with strict policies. I mean even the hospital here as the usb ports locked down so you can’t use a usb drive or your phone to plug into the computer. Sometimes it makes me wonder if someone just forgot about that part or if there was something in that information they wanted leaked, which wouldn’t make sense if it puts people or a whole nation at risk.

    @Madchatthew Yes, it’s hard to fathom and makes zero sense. The firm I work at locks down USB ports meaning you can at least charge a device, but you can’t use it as a mechanism for mass storage. I can’t believe also that security is so lax that someone without adequate clearance can waltz into a restricted area and take what they want.

  • @Madchatthew Yes, it’s hard to fathom and makes zero sense. The firm I work at locks down USB ports meaning you can at least charge a device, but you can’t use it as a mechanism for mass storage. I can’t believe also that security is so lax that someone without adequate clearance can waltz into a restricted area and take what they want.

    @phenomlab said in Ex GCHQ employee risk to national security:

    I can’t believe also that security is so lax that someone without adequate clearance can waltz into a restricted area and take what they want.

    Yeah I can’t believe that either. It is crazy


Related Topics
  • Bad information security advice

    Security linkedin security advice
    1
    1
    1 Votes
    1 Posts
    580 Views
    No one has replied
  • 0 Votes
    4 Posts
    2k Views
    @DownPW most of this really depends on your desired security model. In all cases with firewalls, less is always more, although it’s never as clear cut as that, and there are always bespoke ports you’ll need to open periodically. Heztner’s DDoS protection is superior, and I know they have invested a lot of time, effort, and money into making it extremely effective. However, if you consider that the largest ever DDoS attack hit Cloudflare at 71m rps (and they were able to deflect it), and each attack can last anywhere between 8-24 hours which really depends on how determined the attacker(s) is/are, you can never be fully prepared - nor can you trace it’s true origin. DDoS attacks by their nature (Distributed Denial of Service) are conducted by large numbers of devices whom have become part of a “bot army” - and in most cases, the owners of these devices are blissfully unaware that they have been attacked and are under command and control from a nefarious resource. Given that the attacks originate from multiple sources, this allows the real attacker to observe from a distance whilst concealing their own identity and origin in the process. If you consider the desired effect of DDoS, it is not an attempt to access ports that are typically closed, but to flood (and eventually overwhelm) the target (such as a website) with millions of requests per second in an attempt to force it offline. Victims of DDoS attacks are often financial services for example, with either extortion or financial gain being the primary objective - in other words, pay for the originator to stop the attack. It’s even possible to get DDoS as a service these days - with a credit card, a few clicks of a mouse and a target IP, you can have your own proxy campaign running in minutes which typically involves “booters” or “stressers” - see below for more https://heimdalsecurity.com/blog/ddos-as-a-service-attacks-what-are-they-and-how-do-they-work @DownPW said in Setting for high load and prevent DDoS (sysctl, iptables, crowdsec or other): in short if you have any advice to give to secure the best. It’s not just about DDos or firewalls. There are a number of vulnerabilities on all systems that if not patched, will expose that same system to exploit. One of my favourite online testers which does a lot more than most basic ones is below https://www.immuniweb.com/websec/ I’d start with the findings reported here and use that to branch outwards.
  • 3 Votes
    4 Posts
    2k Views
    @DownPW yeah, I seem to spend a large amount of my time trying to educate people that there’s no silver bullet when it comes to security.
  • 5 Votes
    6 Posts
    2k Views
    Missed out on this deal ? Windscribe offer a limited free version. More about that here https://sudonix.org/topic/13/which-product-is-the-best-for-vpn/164?_=1652206628456
  • 0 Votes
    1 Posts
    577 Views
    No one has replied
  • 0 Votes
    1 Posts
    612 Views
    No one has replied
  • 0 Votes
    1 Posts
    711 Views
    No one has replied
  • is my DMARC configured correctly?

    Solved Configure
    3
    2
    3 Votes
    3 Posts
    1k Views
    @phenomlab said in is my DMARC configured correctly?: you’ll get one from every domain that receives email from yours. Today I have received another mail from outlook DMARC, i was referring to your reply again and found it very helpful/informative. thanks again. I wish sudonix 100 more great years ahead!