u3369429@murdu.OZ (Michael Bednarek) (09/17/87)
From "The Age" (Melbourne), 16-Sep-1987:
Hackers Steal Secrets of Western Space Projects
London, Tuesday.
Young West German computer hackers have successfully broken
into a top secret world-wide computer network which connects the
US space agency's scientific research centres with its
counterparts in Britain, France, Germany, Switzerland and Japan.
The attack has been kept secret by the intelligence
services, although the scandal was discovered months ago, because
it is feared that the knowledge the youths may have gained puts
them, and the integrity of various American and European space
development programs, in extreme danger from Eastern bloc agents.
The space programs involved cover a wide range of
applications. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration,
for example, is working on space platform technology, while
Britain is looking at remote-sensing satellites - a form of spy
satellite project.
France is building up towards a manned satellite and Japan's
projects concentrate on the computing aspects of space
communication.
The youths have told West German Interior Ministry
interrogators that they planted a program known to hackers as a
"Trojan horse" in the world-wide computer network, Span, "for
fun". They have denied accusations of espionage.
The Trojan horse enabled them to reap at will any or all the
secrets of Western space technology at a keystroke. The Trojan
horse can wait for a top security user to key into the computer
with a secret password, and then record his key strokes in a
file, revealing everything that is said.
The penetrated computers are the 4.4 and 4.5 state of the
art models made by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), one of
the most important and respected computer companies in the world.
DEC's latest computers, the VAXes, and their super-sophisticated
software are interlinked with secret Western technology, and
Western governments claim the VAXes can be used for designing,
making and operating weapons.
DEC recently disclosed that it has been given top security
validation by the National Computer Security Centre, an agency
operated by the United States Government.
The company's VMS machines - virtual manning or standard
deck operation computers - were given two security
classifications. C2, signifying "controlled access", and B2
"Trusted Path Requirements".
Security sources said yesterday that the hackers "visited"
135 computer centres worldwide, leaving their Trojan horses and a
general key word for their own purposes within the system.
Modifications
With the "horse" and the keyword installed it was easy to
enter any associate of the network. The hackers later
delightedly observed that in some cases their "modifications" had
already been automatically taken into the back-up versions which
allow a security start-up if any organisation fears that its
defences have been breached.
The hackers' activities would have continued unhampered but
for a security manager of a German research laboratory, alerted
by an article in a German computer magazine which described the
potential flaw in the system which was exploited by the hackers.
He noticed abnormalities in a computer system, and carried
out his own intensive investigation for several days. He
discovered that Trojan horses could be isolated, and identified
two of the hackers, who were insiders.
In CANBERRA, Mr Ron Goleby, the assistant secretary of the
space project branch - a section of the Department of Industry,
Technology and Commerce - said the branch had a secure system
which sent information by satellite to Nasa in the United States.
He said the branch monitored civilian satellites and
spacecraft and was not involved in tracking military missions.
There was no computer link to Nasa and he said he was unaware of
any hacking of the Nasa network overseas.
- Guardian