Reverse Hacker Awarded $4.3 Million 171
jcatcw writes "Shawn Carpenter was awarded a $4.3 million award — more than twice the amount he sought and money he thinks he'll never see. Carpenter worked for Sandia National Labs as an intrusion detection analyst. He anayzed. He detected. He reported. He was fired — in Janurary 2005 after sharing his results with the FBI and the U.S. Army. Computerworld asked him what he hoped to achieve in that investigation. Answer: 'In late May of 2004, one of my investigations turned up a large cache of stolen sensitive documents hidden on a server in South Korea. In addition to U.S. military information, there were hundreds of pages of detailed schematics and project information marked 'Lockheed Martin Proprietary Information — Export Controlled' that were associated with the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. ... It was a case of putting the interests of the corporation over those of the country.' Ira Winkler, author of Spies Among Us , said the verdict was 'incredibly justified. Frankly, I think people [at Sandia] should go to jail' for ignoring some of the security issues that Carpenter was trying to highlight with his investigation."
Gray and pointless. (Score:5, Interesting)
Of course, the judgement against Sandia will get passed on to the US Government in a "cost plus" contract...
Am I The Only One Alarmed By.... (Score:5, Interesting)
I mean, hey, great - I'm really glad this guy got the compensation very much due him. What worries me more is that the article didn't read "Corporation ignores serious national security concerns because there was no obvious profit."
I always wonder... do businesses really think they're immune to the affairs of their "mother country?" I'm quite sure any corporation that sees most of its factories razed would find their bottom line hit pretty hard.
Granted, I'm a teacher by trade, and I don't have that same mindset... but even as a human being, I'm going to tend to the security of the nation that keeps carbombs off my streets before I tend to the profits of fat-cat, tax-dodging boss.
Patriotism isn't an archaic concept; it's a survivalist one.
What Is A "Reverse Hacker"? (Score:3, Interesting)
Because if he's an offensive hacker -- e.g. one of "ours" to attack the enemy -- that doesn't make it "reverse" hacking.
Ridiculous contract (Score:5, Interesting)
Their contracts with the government allow them to pass court awarded punitive damages to the government? On TV doctor dramas, punitive damages are awarded if there is evidence of gross negligence. For what possible reason would the government enter such an agreement?
Re:Am I The Only One Alarmed By.... (Score:5, Interesting)
I always wonder... do businesses really think they're immune to the affairs of their "mother country?" I'm quite sure any corporation that sees most of its factories razed would find their bottom line hit pretty hard.
I'm sure at least some businesses don't recognize a "mother country." How would you constrain Sony, for example, which has factories all over Asia and North America? Or cruise lines, which do most of their business in the United States but are registered in the Cayman Islands for tax shelter purposes?
problems for a corporation-mindset (Score:4, Interesting)
any end scenario that equates with annihalation/extinction of the company is not worth considering or planning for.
on a scale of 1-10, (1 being some hourly wage earner is caught taking 40$ from the till) a 5-8 embarrasement bad pr episode (security leak, court judgement, contracts broken) is a whole lot worse for the company than a 10 extinction, because at 100% corporation extinction/cessation of manufacturing, there is no one left to point fingers (other than history) in the internal squabbles.... a mid level manager would rather the company declare banktrupcy than one of his subs become a series of internal memos cc'd to legal...
Re:Am I The Only One Alarmed By.... (Score:5, Interesting)
It's nothing new. When the US Navy put the contract to develop a new screw(propellor) for US submarines, the specifications made it virtually silent. One company went so far as to build the machine to build the screw, but ended up not getting the contract. Rather than write the whole thing off, they sold the machine to the Chinese.
Long story short, Chinese subs are now just about as quiet as American subs.
Lockheed Martin, Big Brother Inc.? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Am I The Only One Alarmed By.... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Gray and pointless. (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Gray and pointless. (Score:2, Interesting)
Take note too of the special attention paid to the fact that Bruce Held [Sandia's chief of counterintelligence]. was a CIA officer, and remember that the CIA and all the associated apparatus of oldboys are under attack from the neocons because they wouldn't suppport the Bush administration's contention that Iraq had WMDs.
I smell a big stinky rat that just popped out of the sewer with this story. I can't help remembering the Wen Ho Lee [wikipedia.org] story which waved the flag of patriotism to persecute a "foreigner" and think that if the USA is worried about foreigners stealing information then they should look to the Israelis [counterpunch.org]
At best this is an unclear story, at worst it's a move by the neocons to ratchet up tension against China. Probably it's a way at having a go at some non-neocon security establishment likely loyal to the Democrats.
Most amazing quote from the article (Score:5, Interesting)
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?co
Article in Time (Score:1, Interesting)
Red Herrings anybody? (Score:3, Interesting)
Ya just gotta be paranoid to survive in this world.
Re:Gray and pointless. (Score:3, Interesting)
2. He informed his employer that sensitive data was being stolen.
3. His employers did nothing because they're incompetent nitwits.
4. He, being a good American did what he was supposed to do and tracked down the people who stole the secrets and reported it to the FBI.
5. His bosses, now with egg all over their faces, fired him because he showed they were in fact incompetent nitwits.
Imagine Joe Security Guard does the following:
1. Finds an intrusion within his patrol
2. Informs his employers that valuable ojbects were being stolen
3. His employers did nothing because (insert speculation)
4. He breaks into the theives houses to track down the stolen property.
Did Joe overstep his authority? Did he know whether the leak was intentional, possibly to track where these goods were ending up?