Who Wants To Fly The Space Shuttle?

Apparently, all you need are some computer hacking skills. Unreal, how many years now has computer network cybersecurity been a known issue?

NASA Computer Servers Insecure, Open to ‘Catastrophic’ Attack

Computer servers on NASA’s mission network are at high risk for Internet-based attacks that could have “catastrophic” effects on the space agency, according to a Monday report.

Specifically, NASA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that six computer servers associated with IT assets that control spacecraft and contain critical data have vulnerabilities that would allow a cybercriminal to remotely attack and take control of them.

Once inside, meanwhile, the attacker could then use those compromised computers to exploit other weaknesses, which could “severely degrade or cripple NASA’s operations,” the OIG found. Network servers also contained encryption keys, encrypted passwords, and user account information that were accessible to attackers.

What’s the problem? The OIG said NASA has been slow to act on a recommendation it made in May 2010 that NASA secure its networks. At that point, the OIG told NASA to immediately establish an IT security oversight program for its mission network, but as of February 2011, NASA had done nothing.

Read the report:

INADEQUATE SECURITY PRACTICES EXPOSE
KEY NASA NETWORK TO CYBER ATTACK

See also:
NASA spaceship control network vulnerable to hackers
Nasa computers that control spacecraft ‘vulnerable to crippling hacker attacks’
NASA audit warns of “catastrophic” consequences from lax information security
Critical NASA network was open to Internet attack
Report: NASA Vulnerable To Crippling Cyber Attacks
Serious security gaps found in NASA’s computer network
Report: Despite Earlier Warning, Nasa Still Vulnerable To Cyber Attack
NASA at “high risk” of data security breach
NASA computer servers vulnerable to attack: audit
According to an audit, the American Space Agency’s computer systems are highly vulnerable to computer attacks

With astronauts’ lives at stake, as well as our national prestige, you’d think NASA would be a lot more concerned and up to date with their computer security efforts and policies. And remember, these people are supposed to be America’s best and brightest in the technical and scientific arena. Thank God nothing disastrous has come about because of this glaring gap in common sense computer network operation security.

/kind of makes you wonder, if NASA is this lax and inattentive, how wide open and vulnerable are other critical government computer systems?