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The "It's All Bad News" Thread

Jm_

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
19,083
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AK
They only got worse with each "episode", so at least we know what's coming.
 
AngryMetalsmith

AngryMetalsmith

Business is good, thanks for asking
Jun 4, 2006
21,282
10,362
I have no idea where I am
Pesqueeb

Pesqueeb

bicycle in airplane hangar
Feb 2, 2007
40,444
16,972
Riding the baggage carousel.
Changleen said:
In Soviet Russia, hacking tools manipulate you!
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We shouldn't gloss over this. This hack is an act of war. Just because nothing "blew up" doesn't make it any less so. Everything even kind of connected to the internet in this country is potentially compromised, probably for the foreseeable future. The Russians and FSM only knows who else, were in there long enough to build backdoors for the backdoors that lead to other backdoors. The security of this countries government and infrastructure are now incredibly vulnerable. And make no mistake, the sitting administration aided and abetted this attack either through its GROSS incompetence, through actual malfeasance, or some combination thereof.
 
Toshi

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,514
7,851
Pesqueeb said:
We shouldn't gloss over this. This hack is an act of war. Just because nothing "blew up" doesn't make it any less so. Everything even kind of connected to the internet in this country is potentially compromised, probably for the foreseeable future. The Russians and FSM only knows who else, were in there long enough to build backdoors for the backdoors that lead to other backdoors. The security of this countries government and infrastructure are now incredibly vulnerable. And make no mistake, the sitting administration aided and abetted this attack either through its GROSS incompetence, through actual malfeasance, or some combination thereof.
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OTOH, our power grid has been vulnerable and penetrated for years from what I've read in the past.
 
Westy

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,588
20,400
Sleazattle
Toshi said:
OTOH, our power grid has been vulnerable and penetrated for years from what I've read in the past.
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I had a professor in grad school who was doing a bunch of research into industrial hacking and espionage. His assessment was that at any point in time the Russians and Chinese could take down the US power generation, air traffic control, traffic control and water supply any time they wanted to.

My previous employer did a control retrofit for a water municipality in oregon. All you needed to know to log into the control system was an IP address and a basic password like WaTeR123. That IP Address and password was stored in unprotected word documents on the companies Microsoft 365 cloud account.

I could have gone an shut down that water plant, or increased flouride/chlorine amounts to toxic levels or mismanaged the system to cause physical damage.

Which is why I always cringe when I hear people promote the concept of the Industrial Internet Of Things. No, you don't want to have everything on a network. When you need a network make it a local one and fill any open USB/Ethernet ports with epoxy so random idiots or malicious geniuses cannot compromise the network.
 
Toshi

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,514
7,851
Westy said:
I had a professor in grad school who was doing a bunch of research into industrial hacking and espionage. His assessment was that at any point in time the Russians and Chinese could take down the US power generation, air traffic control, traffic control and water supply any time they wanted to.
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Yup, and no doubt us with their infrastructure as well. MAD for utilities.
 
mykel

mykel

closer to Periwinkle
Apr 19, 2013
5,149
3,872
sw ontario canada
Westy said:
I had a professor in grad school who was doing a bunch of research into industrial hacking and espionage. His assessment was that at any point in time the Russians and Chinese could take down the US power generation, air traffic control, traffic control and water supply any time they wanted to.

My previous employer did a control retrofit for a water municipality in oregon. All you needed to know to log into the control system was an IP address and a basic password like WaTeR123. That IP Address and password was stored in unprotected word documents on the companies Microsoft 365 cloud account.

I could have gone an shut down that water plant, or increased flouride/chlorine amounts to toxic levels or mismanaged the system to cause physical damage.

Which is why I always cringe when I hear people promote the concept of the Industrial Internet Of Things. No, you don't want to have everything on a network. When you need a network make it a local one and fill any open USB/Ethernet ports with epoxy so random idiots or malicious geniuses cannot compromise the network.
Click to expand...

Air gap? What's an air-gap asked the security administrator.
 
Pesqueeb

Pesqueeb

bicycle in airplane hangar
Feb 2, 2007
40,444
16,972
Riding the baggage carousel.
Westy said:
I had a professor in grad school who was doing a bunch of research into industrial hacking and espionage. His assessment was that at any point in time the Russians and Chinese could take down the US power generation, air traffic control, traffic control and water supply any time they wanted to.

My previous employer did a control retrofit for a water municipality in oregon. All you needed to know to log into the control system was an IP address and a basic password like WaTeR123. That IP Address and password was stored in unprotected word documents on the companies Microsoft 365 cloud account.

I could have gone an shut down that water plant, or increased flouride/chlorine amounts to toxic levels or mismanaged the system to cause physical damage.

Which is why I always cringe when I hear people promote the concept of the Industrial Internet Of Things. No, you don't want to have everything on a network. When you need a network make it a local one and fill any open USB/Ethernet ports with epoxy so random idiots or malicious geniuses cannot compromise the network.
Click to expand...
The EMB175s we fly receive software up dates via a usb that is old school mailed and then uploaded with a computer that has NO way to connect it to the internet, nor has any way to connect to it remotely. Is this slightly unwieldy and slower than it could be? Sure is. Is it safer? Probably. But personally, it's my opinion that safety outweighs convenience in this case. Maybe even more important things like electricity and water ought to be similarly walled off. But, I'm just a dumb aircraft mechanic, so what do I know.
 
Westy

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,588
20,400
Sleazattle
Pesqueeb said:
The EMB175s we fly receive software up dates via a usb that is old school mailed and then uploaded with a computer that has NO way to connect it to the internet, nor has any way to connect to it remotely. Is this slightly unwieldy and slower than it could be? Sure is. Is it safer? Probably. But personally, it's my opinion that safety outweighs convenience in this case. Maybe even more important things like electricity and water ought to be similarly walled off. But, I'm just a dumb aircraft mechanic, so what do I know.
Click to expand...

When I had customers who requested the ability for remote login to automation equipment I would always spec a NAT router that had physical key that issued a unique password each time it was turned on. If they wanted me to remote into their system they had to go turn the key and give me the password.
 
6thElement

6thElement

Schrodinger's Immigrant
Jul 29, 2008
16,098
13,348
20 years ago I worked for a power utility, at the time all of the SCADA systems which controlled the power systems were isolated from the internet. I'm sure that's changed now to the detriment of security.

This SolarWinds hack is a pain in the balls. I'm responsible for a large enterprise solution which uses (used) it and thankfully our systems are isolated from the Internet. But as of right now there is zero faith that the SW software isn't still compromised in some fashion, so all of that monitoring is turned off and we're investigating what other vendor to migrate to...
 
Changleen

Changleen

Paranoid Member
Jan 9, 2004
14,365
2,473
Pōneke
6thElement said:
20 years ago I worked for a power utility, at the time all of the SCADA systems which controlled the power systems were isolated from the internet. I'm sure that's changed now to the detriment of security.
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In my personal experience, no SCADA I have ever met beyond one which turns on the coffee machines has ever had a direct net connection. No freaking way. (Euro power context).
 
kidwoo

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
Aug 25, 2003
42,146
13,343
Squirtin ketchup n' mustard on charred flesh
Jm_

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
19,083
9,744
AK
kidwoo said:
oh man......I could tell you some stories about that one



But generally speaking "I'm an independent cowboy who ranches/farms on leased gov't land, with free water we've come to expect, rely on subsidies in farm bills to float my ass IE my family built this all themselves, don't need the gov't for nothing and STATE OF JEFFERSON MOTHERFUCKER, WE'RE JOB CREATORS"
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Yup. The bootstraps flow like the swans of capastrano.
 
kidwoo

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
Aug 25, 2003
42,146
13,343
Squirtin ketchup n' mustard on charred flesh
Westy said:
www.scientificamerican.com

Space Junk Removal Is Not Going Smoothly

Despite promising technology demonstrations, there is no one-size-fits-all solution for the growing problem of taking out the orbital trash
www.scientificamerican.com www.scientificamerican.com
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one day an uninhabitable, cooked, gaseous, desert sphere will orbit the sun between mars and venus, visible from other galaxies by the reflective sparkle of all the metal shit that forms its ring





there's literally a car circling out there right now just because some narcissist with daddy's blood emerald money wanted to show off
 
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mandown

mandown

Poopdeck Repost
Jun 1, 2004
20,342
7,901
Transylvania 90210
Pesqueeb said:
You done fucked up if you're above Fresno on that list. :fie:
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it’s pretty wild considering how expensive it is to live there and how many wealthy areas border it. I just watched a video from the Ring camera of a neighbor where some guy tried three times in a row to break in. He was high and crazy. Cops were called, but it doesn’t sound like an arrest was made.
 
mykel

mykel

closer to Periwinkle
Apr 19, 2013
5,149
3,872
sw ontario canada
Well it seems that real news is getting harder and harder to access.

All the hard right crap is free and easy to find and is served up ad nauseum, but actual unbiased reporting....ya, that is becoming a bit of a different story.

Reuters is going behind a paywall.

www.reuters.com

Reuters website goes behind paywall in new strategy

Reuters News (TRI.TO) on Thursday unveiled a new subscription website as part of a broad initiative to court business professionals.
www.reuters.com www.reuters.com

In the long run, for society, I can't see this as a positive as it gets harder and harder to counter the crazy, not to mention just keeping yourself informed.

Journo's gotta eat, bills gotta get paid, so I guess Capitalism gotta capitalism, at least until Fascism gets its shoes tied.
 
johnbryanpeters

johnbryanpeters

Hero
Sep 27, 2001
36,178
16,713
Making moss sad in New Haven, Vermont
mykel said:
Well it seems that real new is getting harder and harder to access.

All the hard right crap is free and easy to find and is served up ad nauseum, but actual unbiased reporting....ya, that is becoming a bit of a different story.

Reuters is going behind a paywall.

www.reuters.com

Reuters website goes behind paywall in new strategy

Reuters News (TRI.TO) on Thursday unveiled a new subscription website as part of a broad initiative to court business professionals.
www.reuters.com www.reuters.com

In the long run, for society, I can't see this as a positive as it gets harder and harder to counter the crazy, not to mention just keeping yourself informed.

Journo's gotta eat, bills gotta get paid, so I guess Capitalism gotta capitalism, at least until Fascism gets its shoes tied.
Click to expand...
Reuters seems largely business focused; I seldom look at it.
 
rideit

rideit

Bob the Builder
Aug 24, 2004
23,460
11,624
In the cleavage of the Tetons
mykel said:
Well it seems that real news is getting harder and harder to access.

All the hard right crap is free and easy to find and is served up ad nauseum, but actual unbiased reporting....ya, that is becoming a bit of a different story.

Reuters is going behind a paywall.

www.reuters.com

Reuters website goes behind paywall in new strategy

Reuters News (TRI.TO) on Thursday unveiled a new subscription website as part of a broad initiative to court business professionals.
www.reuters.com www.reuters.com

In the long run, for society, I can't see this as a positive as it gets harder and harder to counter the crazy, not to mention just keeping yourself informed.

Journo's gotta eat, bills gotta get paid, so I guess Capitalism gotta capitalism, at least until Fascism gets its shoes tied.
Click to expand...
This reminds me that I need to send a few sheckels to the Guardian.
 
Changleen

Changleen

Paranoid Member
Jan 9, 2004
14,365
2,473
Pōneke
The Guardian’s opinion pieces increasingly annoy me.

“Should I feed Phoebe and Max organic vegan kale or will their privileged farts be offensive to the differently abled kids at my cross gender affirmative action eco-kindergarten?”
 
Sandro

Sandro

Terrified of Cucumbers
Nov 12, 2006
3,226
2,539
The old world
Changleen said:
The Guardian’s opinion pieces increasingly annoy me.

“Should I feed Phoebe and Max organic vegan kale or will their privileged farts be offensive to the differently abled kids at my cross gender affirmative action eco-kindergarten?”
Click to expand...
I still appreciate their long reads, but their opinion pieces border on unreadable and feel like a right winger's cliched idea of lefty politics.
 
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