Skip to content

Ex GCHQ employee risk to national security

Discussion
4 2 998 1
  • Just seen this news article about a breach of security at GCHQ.

    https://news.sky.com/story/ex-gchq-employee-pleads-guilty-to-causing-risk-to-national-security-13339410

    Given this is GCHQ, the information taken was classified as “Top Secret” and in the wrong hands could cause the UK significant harm, you have to ask yourself about the level of “security” in place here.

    Surely, you’d have basic controls in place to prevent data leakage by at least locking down USB ports, and who on secondment has access to highly restricted areas??

    Crazy.

  • Just seen this news article about a breach of security at GCHQ.

    https://news.sky.com/story/ex-gchq-employee-pleads-guilty-to-causing-risk-to-national-security-13339410

    Given this is GCHQ, the information taken was classified as “Top Secret” and in the wrong hands could cause the UK significant harm, you have to ask yourself about the level of “security” in place here.

    Surely, you’d have basic controls in place to prevent data leakage by at least locking down USB ports, and who on secondment has access to highly restricted areas??

    Crazy.

    @phenomlab you would think they would have that security setup with strict policies. I mean even the hospital here as the usb ports locked down so you can’t use a usb drive or your phone to plug into the computer. Sometimes it makes me wonder if someone just forgot about that part or if there was something in that information they wanted leaked, which wouldn’t make sense if it puts people or a whole nation at risk.

  • @phenomlab you would think they would have that security setup with strict policies. I mean even the hospital here as the usb ports locked down so you can’t use a usb drive or your phone to plug into the computer. Sometimes it makes me wonder if someone just forgot about that part or if there was something in that information they wanted leaked, which wouldn’t make sense if it puts people or a whole nation at risk.

    @Madchatthew Yes, it’s hard to fathom and makes zero sense. The firm I work at locks down USB ports meaning you can at least charge a device, but you can’t use it as a mechanism for mass storage. I can’t believe also that security is so lax that someone without adequate clearance can waltz into a restricted area and take what they want.

  • @Madchatthew Yes, it’s hard to fathom and makes zero sense. The firm I work at locks down USB ports meaning you can at least charge a device, but you can’t use it as a mechanism for mass storage. I can’t believe also that security is so lax that someone without adequate clearance can waltz into a restricted area and take what they want.

    @phenomlab said in Ex GCHQ employee risk to national security:

    I can’t believe also that security is so lax that someone without adequate clearance can waltz into a restricted area and take what they want.

    Yeah I can’t believe that either. It is crazy


Related Topics
  • 2 Votes
    2 Posts
    628 Views
    @Muhammad-Abdan-Farooqui Welcome! i’m currently using (and recommend) Bitdefender. For my sins, I’m using Windows, but need this for teams and Office365 integration (otherwise I’d always choose Linux). Have you looked at the Bitdefender product for MAC? https://www.bitdefender.com/en-gb/consumer/antivirus-for-mac
  • 7 Votes
    12 Posts
    2k Views
    @DownPW this looks interesting! .
  • 12 Votes
    8 Posts
    3k Views
    @crazycells good question. Gmail being provided by Google is going to be one of the more secure by default out of the box, although you have to bear in mind that you can have the best security in the world, but that is easily diluted by user decision. Obviously, it makes sense to secure all cloud based services with at least 2fa protection, or better still, biometric if available, but email still remains vastly unprotected (unless enforced in the sense of 2fa, which I know Sendgrid do) because of user choice (in the sense that users will always go for the path of least resistance when it comes to security to make their lives easier). The ultimate side effect of taking this route is being vulnerable to credentials theft via phishing attacks and social engineering. The same principle would easily apply to Proton Mail, who also (from memory) do not enforce 2fa. Based on this fact, neither product is more secure than the other without one form of additional authentication at least being imposed. In terms of direct attack on the servers holding mail accounts themselves, this is a far less common type of attack these days as tricking the user is so much simpler than brute forcing a server where you are very likely to be detected by perimeter security (IDS / IPS etc).
  • 4 Votes
    4 Posts
    1k Views
    @phenomlab said in TikTok fined £12.7m for misusing children’s data: Just another reason not to use TikTok. Zero privacy, Zero respect for privacy, and Zero controls in place. https://news.sky.com/story/tiktok-fined-12-7m-for-data-protection-breaches-12849702 The quote from this article says it all TikTok should have known better. TikTok should have done better They should have, but didn’t. Clearly the same distinct lack of core values as Facebook. Profit first, privacy… well, maybe. Wow, that’s crazy! so glad I stayed away from it, rotten to the core.
  • 5 Votes
    4 Posts
    1k Views
    @DownPW here. Hostrisk is automated and doesn’t accept registrations.
  • Secure SSH connectivty

    Security ssh keys security
    7
    6 Votes
    7 Posts
    2k Views
    @phenomlab yep but I use it since several month and I haven’t see any bugs or crash In any case, I only use him anymore Tabby offers tabs and a panel system, but also themes, plugins and color palettes to allow you to push the experience to the limit. It can support different shells in the same window, offers completion, has an encrypted container for your passwords, SSH keys and other secrets, and can handle different connection profiles. Each tab is persistent (you can restore them if you close one by mistake) and has a notification system, which will let you know if, for example, a process is finished while you are tapping in another tab. It’s really a great terminal that will easily replace cmd.exe for Windowsians or your usual terminal. And it can even work in a portable version for those who like to carry their tools on a USB key. –> To test it, you can download it, but there is also a web version. Handy for getting an idea. https://app.tabby.sh
  • 0 Votes
    1 Posts
    594 Views
    No one has replied
  • Security, Or Just Obscurity?

    Blog security blog
    1
    1
    0 Votes
    1 Posts
    785 Views
    No one has replied