Who’s Afraid of the FBI? Certainly Not Hackers.

Your company hires a consultant to do a bit of network maintenance.

He keeps badgering you for access to this, so he can install a printer, or that to install a switch.

Finally… to get him off your back, you give him your user name and password.

Later, you discover that the creep used your password to download the entire organization’s password file (multiple times)… then used an off-the-web hash-buster to own every user in the company… And you didn’t even have Administrative access!

What kind of small-time idiot would design such a Swiss-cheesy security system?

Turns out, it was the FBI.

Washington Post reporter audit of the Trilogy project uncovered “poorly defined and slowly evolving design requirements, weak information technology investment management practices, weaknesses in the way contractors were retained and overseen, the lack of management continuity at the FBI on the Trilogy project, unrealistic scheduling of tasks, and inadequate resolution of issues that warned of problems in Trilogy’s development.”

The OIG noted that turnover of key personnel really hurt, especially systems engineers, contracting officers, systems engineers, budget personnel and… systems engineers.

Sentinel is carrying the FBI’s illustrious computer management banner forward. In March 2006, the OIG reported that the “new” $500 million project suffered many difficiencies [pdf] similar to those of its predecessor:

1. Sentinel still suffers from a shortage of essential staff;
2. FBIers can’t shuffle funds without screwing mission-critical ops;
3. Sentinel’s still lousy at sharing info with other lawdogs; and
4. Ongoing project auditing is a joke.

On the upside, documentation’s not a problem… because there isn’t any.

So. If you’re one of the 26.5 million vets and active duty personnel whose names and Social Security numbers were recently returned on that stolen laptop… and the FBI says you have nothing to worry about because the data on the hard drive was never accessed… you can believe it (wink, wink).

Because nobody knows computers like the Bureau. And everybody knows it.

Email Battles Backgrounder:

• Black Market Returns Prodigal VA Laptop While FBI Dissembles; Email Battles; 05 July 2006.
• Pentagon Hacked Through Common Windows Holes; Email Battles; 08 June 2005.
• Hackers Feed On Windows Patches; Email Battles; 26 February 2004.
• Homeland Security Demands Your Secrets; Email Battles; 18 February 2004.
• Homeland Security: Connecting The Dots; Email Battles; 11 February 2004.
• Homeland Security Still Depends On Microsoft?; Email Battles; 11 February 2004.