Brit programmer Gary McKinnon is charged with using readily available code to hack the Pentagon, along with other military servers… again and again and again. How?

Microsoft Windows. The U.S. military left Windows servers exposed to the Internet. It worked out so well, Homeland Security opted for Windows servers, too.

Note to the Pentagon (and Homeland Security): Windows servers are great for internal networking. But prudence strongly suggests that you protect them from the Internet. It’s a cold, cruel world out there.

We need to pay these folks better.