WWW.huh?: You Are the First Line of Defense

Courtesy Photo | To make life harder on hackers, use different passwords at Web sites and on every machine you use. Reject all site and system offers to "remember" you and your password. Photo by Steve Hara.  

WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES

06.24.2001

Courtesy Story

Defense.gov         

Defense Department computer security systems and specialists foiled nearly 22,500 would-be intruders in 1999 and 24,500 in 2000. There's no let-up in sight.

Special agent Jim Christy said he and others on his law enforcement staff are in a "growth business" chasing hackers and spies and running other criminal activities to ground. As representatives of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence, they also counsel DoD employees on being an effective first line of defense instead of the weakest link.

When he discusses computer security, Christy said, he drives home that average folks aren't expected to mount an ironclad defense. Rather, he stressed, they can do simple things that make life harder for bad guys -- and stop doing simple things that make life easy for them.

The mindset on the last point is wrong for at least three reasons, Christy noted. First, too many people think a secure system can't be hacked from their office computer network -- usually because they themselves don't know how. Fact is, good hackers really can launch attacks on your lowly machine if you give them the time and opportunity, he said.

Second, he continued, intelligence analysts make a living by drawing conclusions and educated guesses from bits and pieces of unclassified and seemingly unrelated information.

Third, information doesn't have to be classified to be sensitive. Medical records, personnel records and personal address and phone books aren't usually classified, but all contain data protected from public release by the Privacy Act of 1974. Good security, he said, means locking out all snoops, not just spies.

Christy and company's growing business in security issues gives constant rise to another: personal privacy. You have none, and that roils many employees.

Uncle Sam's machine, Uncle Sam's rules, Christy noted. (See video, 42 sec.)

Agency systems administrators are supposed to have the means to track every move made by every user in their realm. Literally. Every keystroke. Every mouse click. They can reconstruct any document you write, every Web site you visit, Christy said. (See video, 30 sec.)

Monitoring could be used to detect crimes and employee waste and abuse, but rarely is, he noted. More frequently, investigators and managers consult monitoring records to make or break cases after allegations surface other ways. Computer users can't claim a "probable cause" defense after being caught, because they all agree to be monitored as a condition of access.

"There is absolutely no privacy on a government computer," Christy said. "Every time you turn one on, you get a message that the government can and will monitor you, and if you sign in, that means you understand and agree. Always assume you're being monitored."

Story by Steve Hara, American Forces Press Service

• Date Taken: 06.24.2001
• Date Posted: 07.03.2025 22:46
• Story ID: 525579
• Location: WASHINGTON, US