In Depth November 20, 2008, 5:00PM EST

Network Security Breaches Plague NASA

(page 7 of 7)

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China has not made a secret of its thirst for advanced missile and rocket technology. "Seizing space dominance is the root for winning war in the Information Age," Li Daguang, a researcher at the government-backed Chinese Academy of Sciences, wrote in 2004 in a publication of the People's Liberation Army, Zhongguo Guofang Bao.

During September and October 2006, intruders mounted a direct assault on NASA's headquarters in Southwest Washington, only blocks from Capitol Hill. A fake e-mail, known as a spearphish, duped several members of the agency's top brass and their assistants into clicking on the link of a seemingly authentic Web site, according to documents and interviews. The site unleashed malicious software code that exploited a previously unknown vulnerability in programs used by NASA. The intruders downloaded, from the hard drive of NASA's then-Chief Financial Officer Gwen Sykes, all of the agency's budget and financial information. Those files contained clues about the size and scope of every NASA research project, space vehicle deployment, and cutting-edge satellite technology. Again the path of the pilfered information led to IP addresses in Taiwan, sparking concern that it ultimately found its way to government offices in Beijing, according to a former NASA employee. Nearly a dozen PCs at NASA headquarters were taken out of commission.

Electronic incursions of NASA facilities have continued. In the days before a Shuttle launch in December 2006, the agency was so rattled it barred all incoming Word attachments from its computer systems. McManus, the former NASA chief technology officer, says the hackers have "very sophisticated knowledge of the organizational structure" of the agency. He laments that for all of the costly cleanups following breaches, NASA hasn't found a comprehensive solution. "It's as if somebody pulls your pants down, and you just pull them back up," says McManus. "How many times do you want to be standing on the street corner with your pants at your feet?"

With Brian Grow, Chi-Chu Tschang, and David Polek

Business Exchange: Read, save, and add content on BW's new Web 2.0 topic network

Snooping on the White House

Chinese hackers have penetrated the White House computer network on multiple occasions and have obtained e-mails between government officials, the Financial Times reported on Nov. 7. An unnamed official told the FT that the Chinese government was suspected of sponsoring the attacks. The Chinese deny that.

For more of the FT's coverage, go to http://bx.businessweek.com/cyber-security/reference

Business Exchange related topics:
Spacecraft Industry
Defense Industry
Cyber Security
Data Protection and Privacy

Epstein is a correspondent in BusinessWeek's Washington bureau. Elgin is a correspondent in BusinessWeek's Silicon Valley bureau.