Friday, September 12, 2008

Hackers Deface LHC Site, Close to Turning Off Particle Detector

Via ZDNet (Government) -

Is it now cyberwar over atom-smashing? A team of Greek hackers calling themselvses Greek Security Team has penetrated the Large Hadron Collider and defaced a public website. No real damage done, but the hackers got perilously close. The hackers attacked the Compact Muon Solenoid Experiment, or CMS. The Guardian reports:

Scientists working at Cern, the organisation that runs the vast smasher, were worried about what the hackers could do because they were “one step away” from the computer control system of one of the huge detectors of the machine, a vast magnet that weighs 12,500 tons, measuring around 21 metres in length and 15 metres wide/high.

If they had hacked into a second computer network, they could have turned off parts of the vast detector and, said the insider, “it is hard enough to make these things work if no one is messing with it.”

Fortunately, only one file was damaged but one of the scientists firing off emails as the CMS team fought off the hackers said it was a “scary experience”.

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This may sound stupid, but why in the hell is the computer control system that close to the Internet? Has anyone heard of security zones? Srsly.

I wonder what they mean by "a second computer network"? Does this mean a simple firewall or other much more serious security measures?

I would question why the internet facing web server is even connected to the internal network at all...

UPDATE (9/14/2008) - I have been informed by a Greek friend (and a reader) that the Greek Security Team consist of members mostly in the 19-22 age range - with some older members.

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