Do you have remote access capabilities onto your Network? VPN, Citrix, not blocking GotomyPC? Has anyone at your company done the same thing, offering the competition direct access to your systems?
...is just how laughably cheap people can be bought for. Two grand and some gift cards? SERIOUSLY? You'd go to jail for that? When you're a project manager at a government job with great benefits, probably making more than that every WEEK?
It's like the Abramoff scandal. People will sell out their country for Capitals tickets. It's not even the Bulls or something!!
...is just how laughably cheap people can be bought for. Two grand and some gift cards? SERIOUSLY? You'd go to jail for that?
On the contrary... they would not go to jail for that. It's their own ignorance and stupidity which cause them to be so easily bought -- and to believe that they won't go to jail because they won't get caught. Criminals are not exactly known for their brains.
What normal person wouldn't spend a few years at Club Fed for those bad boys?
I don't think you go to Club Fed when the victim of your crime was Uncle Sam himself. He can be a rather unforgiving sort. I'd imagine you go to Federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison for this sort of stupidity.
Enough to get herself a responsible management position at an important technology office. I understand your meaning, but to be qualified for this job she absolutely had a college education, possibly master's degree, and at least five years of tech-related work experience, so she's at least come to money even if she hasn't come from it.
In Detroit here we had a 1.2 BILLION dollar deal that was approved by city council only after someone got a $5,000 or $10,000 bribe. You might have heard of Monica Conyers or perhaps her husband, John Conyers.
The way it works here is you hire a "consultant" who supposedly puts you in touch with the right people. What actually happens is the consultant pockets half of the consultant fee, and gives the other half to the person you want to influence. And then the vote changes.
A few people are already on their way to jail, but it's nothing compared to the cost to the city and the hundreds of workers who lost their jobs as a result of the deal.
Every hear of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld? They got elected, killed many useful projects for our nation, and then awarded LARGE contracts to their friends (sight unseen). In addition, when ppl spoke up about, they were QUICKLY shut down. Bunny Greenhouse comes to mind. So many others who have spoken about the corruption and all were swept under the rug. Of course, we did catch a criminal who got a blow job, but that is a different issue all together.
What's the best way to SEO slander someone.... without getting hit by a lawsuit? Just put them in the same article with a dubious individual - make a virtual connection even if no real connection exist... then people will start discussing them together and voila - they must be close friends!
Shameless and disgusting.
What's worse is that the reference to Kundra was obviously added after the story was initially posted on the linked site... that text with Kundra's name isn't even in a p tag, it appears styled differently in the rendered version as well, almost like an editor went in and added it after the author had published - "Hmm we need more hits on this story, let's put Kundra's name in it... that will get hits".
FTFA: "Until recently, the technology office was headed by Vivek Kundra, who has taken a job as President Obama's chief information officer. A White House official confirmed last night that Kundra has taken a leave of absence. "
Sounds like the former CTO might have more bones in his closet related to this thing than has yet been acknowledged. Why else take a leave of absence because a former employee did something shady?
that he didn't even begin to get hints? Was he that detached from the rest of the office to not notice things, let alone review processes and such in place. I figure that if I were there that where the money went would have been an important consideration.
I don't find it a slander to include him in the article, it raises the question of, what did he know or why didn't he show more attention to what was going on around him. His position certainly warranted it.
yea...why stop. We could also just say "President OBAMA's trusted Federal CIO Vivek Kundra former office staffed with people he worked close with are being prosecuted....."
guilt by association is sometimes true and sometimes not but those who do so without OTHER evidence to back it up are sleezy
as if it were what it is: treason. This, cheaply bought bureaucrat, has sold her nation down the tubes for a pittance. Sushil Bansal, the owner of Advanced Integrated Technologies, made millions. Execute all three. Especially Advanced Integrated Technologies; it's high time for corporate death penalties that leave shareholders with worthless paper. Then we may see some responsibility at the top - not just profits.
I'm for stoning them at the base of the Washington Monument.
The executives should go to jail, and the company should pay compensation (hurting shareholders out of necessity), but the shareholders themselves (retirement funds and the like) had nothing to do with the decision.
but the shareholders themselves (retirement funds and the like) had nothing to do with the decision.
Bullshit. That is the copout that corporations have been using forever but there are two major and fatal problems with it: 1) shareholders choose to invest in companies and 2) they have (with any brains) the voting shares, and thus the ability to change the board of directors and with it the CEO.
So no dice. Whining that "We didn't know that our money invested in the 'White Phosphorus Bombs R Us' will actual
There's a difference between investing in companies which publically take part in activities you personally don't agree with (such as weapons manufacture) and investing in outwardly innocent companies which are secretly breaking the law. Of course, once the illegal activity is revealed, what you do next as a shareholder is squarely on your head/conscience.
I have zero problem with executing corporations, since they aren't actually people anyway. And I think that someone who engages in this kind of government corruption (er, if the other posters saying she was duped are incorrect) being sentenced to hard labor, say... but I'd prefer the state didn't go around killing people, most especially on trumped-up charges of treason. That's too easily abused; seems like a slippery slope to tyranny.
A proper caning followed by some time is in order here. A little corporal punishment could go a long way. It may push the risk/reward ratio for petty shit like this up a bit.
Like it or not, money is pretty much _everything_ in this world. You need it to simply live. You need even more of it to live somewhat comfortably. You need even more of it to get decent health care. You need a bunch more to hold a job in most places as you'll need transportation. After you make some you'll want to make more so you can retire some day. All the while, most people enjoy consuming "stuff". Clothes, games, pictures, movies, etc, etc. All that takes even more money.
This article is an ideal example of a social engineering crack. Consider the comparative difficulty of a technical cracking job and compare it to the simplicity and cheapness of what actually took place. The solution was actually quite elegant in a sordid way.
I once worked for a company that was experiencing a surge of highly organized fraud originating from Romania. Before I left, we were preparing to develop a major anti-fraud application, etc., at great expense. At one meeting I suggested that we just hire a few Romanian private detectives to knock on some doors and quietly suggest to the lowlifes that it would be healthier to leave us alone; the other people in the meeting looked at me as though I were green.
No manner of technology can defeat good, social engineering. An intelligent attack is made upon the weakest link in the system. In this case, an unscrupulous user with privileges.
This is what happens when a fed gets caught doing something that seriously compromises security. They get fired, prosecuted, and punished. We can argue about the degree of punishment later.
What happens in private industry? I'm sure people get fired but do they get publicly prosecuted? Or is there a huge motivation to cover up the story so that stock prices/reputation/business in general doesn't take a hit?
Say what you will about government corruption and incompetence but I firmly believe that U.S. feder
Um no? She was a underling that was CAUGHT, she had nothing to do with the guy who is now the CIO. Get your facts straight before you decide to be a right wing moron.
"...what kind of "EEO" bullshit got "Tawanna" cushy job as a "project manager" at the DC CTO office."
FYI, DC is a majority black city - having a black government employee there is like having a Native American employed by tribal governments. EEO would only serve to get white and hispanic applicants hired in DC.
"Would you betray your company/country for $1,000,000,000?" "Maybe" "ok, how do you plan on explaining how you suddenly got a billion dollars?"
From a purely scientific point of view, one can simply have the party in question organize an official "raffle" or "sales promotion lottery" or some such, ostensibly meant to promote their product or service and open to general public. And since they control the entire process, it would not be too difficult for you to end up with the "winning" raffle ticket.
But then you have to pay taxes on your $1,000,000,000. Raffle winnings are treated the same as lottery winnings, which are all treated as gambling winnings and probably taxable in the 30-40% range. In this case the irony would be that 1/3 to 1/2 of the bribery money would go back to the govt, and eventually be used to hire even more corrupt and inept people...
Still beats the hell out of a $25 gift-card, if you ask me... but then again neither the bribers or the bribees in these two-bit, amateur-hour shows were known for competence or ambition.
For some perspective, consider the Iraq invasion: $3 trillion (and that is just the latest estimate) in cash down the drain, all to private concerns, multiple billions of which are not only unaccounted for, but were actually delivered in form of mountains of $100, $50 and $20 bills on shipping pallets....
Considering most money laundering processes can easily have an efficiency of only 10-20% (ie. you lose up to 80% of the money), I reckon losing 30-40% is a pretty sweet deal.
--yet another thing that baffles me about the American system. You've WON a PRIZE -- why does the government.... No, wait, strike that: Why do the citizens of your country continue to allow the government to take 30-40% of it away? I'm pretty sure that it's the same with gambling at a casino and winning the big prize on The Price is Right. Am I mistaken?
In Canada there are no taxes paid on prize winnings. None at all. However, if you win the billion dollars and earn interest off of it, those p
Same with Australia. Honestly, I don't think most people care. What percentage of people actually wins something, let alone something large enough to get that much a chunk taken out of? The rest of us are probably bitter at them and secretly get jollies off of watching the winners get reamed by the gov't. (Schaudefreude for the win!)
Seriously, people on average would rather get $75k compared to a neighbor's $50k than get $125k compared to a neighbor's $150k. They'd willingly give up 50k JUST to make mo
Reading TFA, it looks as if she didn't sell the password, she gave it away to be helpful, and the contractor only later gave her the $2000 (and gift cards) as a present. I.e. she didn't realise what she was doing, that the password she gave him permitted him, basically, to authorise any bill he chose to submit. So she is primarily guilty of total stupidity rather than criminal intent. Maybe, for the good of the species, such stupidity should be treated as even more criminal - but it isn't.
What this makes clear, yet again, is that the human is the weakest point in any system, and any human who has not received positive training in security is a very weak point indeed. Which says that, whatever the physical security, any government database with thousands of users, let alone hundreds of thousands as planned form some, will be subverted, for certain, within months.
I dunno, I'd be fine with one million. Keep it in a secure location (you can afford a nice fireproof safe with that much) and just use it to augment your current lifestyle. Don't make outlandish purchases. One million in hundreds isn't that large either: http://www.cockeyed.com/inside/million/million.html [cockeyed.com]
That's the rub though: being careful with it. You can't blow it on Rodeo Drive day one. Limit yourself to a grand a month and spread it around. Can probably deposit some in your normal account occass
hmm (Score:4, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
You think you can still actually sell that? I mean the password is pretty obvious. UrBusteD01 seems to be pretty universal in each state.
Re: (Score:2)
I bet... (Score:4, Insightful)
I bet she kept the secret for 47 hours.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
This wasn't a troll. It was a reference to a previous article.
Makes one think. (Score:5, Insightful)
Do you have remote access capabilities onto your Network? VPN, Citrix, not blocking GotomyPC? Has anyone at your company done the same thing, offering the competition direct access to your systems?
Re: (Score:2)
What always astounds me about govt corruption (Score:5, Insightful)
...is just how laughably cheap people can be bought for. Two grand and some gift cards? SERIOUSLY? You'd go to jail for that? When you're a project manager at a government job with great benefits, probably making more than that every WEEK?
It's like the Abramoff scandal. People will sell out their country for Capitals tickets. It's not even the Bulls or something!!
Re:What always astounds me about govt corruption (Score:5, Insightful)
...is just how laughably cheap people can be bought for. Two grand and some gift cards? SERIOUSLY? You'd go to jail for that?
On the contrary... they would not go to jail for that. It's their own ignorance and stupidity which cause them to be so easily bought -- and to believe that they won't go to jail because they won't get caught. Criminals are not exactly known for their brains.
Parent
Re:What always astounds me about govt corruption (Score:5, Insightful)
'Criminals are not exactly known for their brains.'
Well, at least the ones of whom you've heard.
Parent
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Two grand and some gift cards? SERIOUSLY? You'd go to jail for that?
Dude, seriously. They were Walmart gift cards. What normal person wouldn't spend a few years at Club Fed for those bad boys?
Re: (Score:2)
What normal person wouldn't spend a few years at Club Fed for those bad boys?
I don't think you go to Club Fed when the victim of your crime was Uncle Sam himself. He can be a rather unforgiving sort. I'd imagine you go to Federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison for this sort of stupidity.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm guessing Tawanna doesn't come from money..
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Enough to get herself a responsible management position at an important technology office. I understand your meaning, but to be qualified for this job she absolutely had a college education, possibly master's degree, and at least five years of tech-related work experience, so she's at least come to money even if she hasn't come from it.
Re: (Score:2)
I agree, but it's not just gov't corruption. People go to jail all the time for embezzling 10 grand.
At least they do here in philly.
Maybe it's us.
Re:What always astounds me about govt corruption (Score:5, Informative)
HA! That's nothing.
In Detroit here we had a 1.2 BILLION dollar deal that was approved by city council only after someone got a $5,000 or $10,000 bribe. You might have heard of Monica Conyers or perhaps her husband, John Conyers.
The way it works here is you hire a "consultant" who supposedly puts you in touch with the right people. What actually happens is the consultant pockets half of the consultant fee, and gives the other half to the person you want to influence. And then the vote changes.
A few people are already on their way to jail, but it's nothing compared to the cost to the city and the hundreds of workers who lost their jobs as a result of the deal.
Parent
That is STILL nothing (Score:4, Interesting)
Parent
Nice SEO slander (Score:5, Insightful)
If TFA isn't a Troll I'll eat my shorts.
What's the best way to SEO slander someone.... without getting hit by a lawsuit? Just put them in the same article with a dubious individual - make a virtual connection even if no real connection exist... then people will start discussing them together and voila - they must be close friends!
Shameless and disgusting.
What's worse is that the reference to Kundra was obviously added after the story was initially posted on the linked site... that text with Kundra's name isn't even in a p tag, it appears styled differently in the rendered version as well, almost like an editor went in and added it after the author had published - "Hmm we need more hits on this story, let's put Kundra's name in it... that will get hits".
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
FTFA: "Until recently, the technology office was headed by Vivek Kundra, who has taken a job as President Obama's chief information officer. A White House official confirmed last night that Kundra has taken a leave of absence. "
Sounds like the former CTO might have more bones in his closet related to this thing than has yet been acknowledged. Why else take a leave of absence because a former employee did something shady?
How can so much have been going on (Score:2)
that he didn't even begin to get hints? Was he that detached from the rest of the office to not notice things, let alone review processes and such in place. I figure that if I were there that where the money went would have been an important consideration.
I don't find it a slander to include him in the article, it raises the question of, what did he know or why didn't he show more attention to what was going on around him. His position certainly warranted it.
Then again, its DC. The real reason he gets h
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Nice SEO slander (Score:4, Informative)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
It's a fact in public life that if the people around you are dirty, some of that dirt will rub off on you, whether or not you are involved.
Once the public's trust is broken, it's very hard to earn it back.
Re: (Score:2)
yea...why stop. We could also just say "President OBAMA's trusted Federal CIO Vivek Kundra former office staffed with people he worked close with are being prosecuted....."
guilt by association is sometimes true and sometimes not but those who do so without OTHER evidence to back it up are sleezy
Let's treat this (Score:3, Insightful)
as if it were what it is: treason. This, cheaply bought bureaucrat, has sold her nation down the tubes for a pittance. Sushil Bansal, the owner of Advanced Integrated Technologies, made millions. Execute all three. Especially Advanced Integrated Technologies; it's high time for corporate death penalties that leave shareholders with worthless paper. Then we may see some responsibility at the top - not just profits.
I'm for stoning them at the base of the Washington Monument.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
The executives should go to jail, and the company should pay compensation (hurting shareholders out of necessity), but the shareholders themselves (retirement funds and the like) had nothing to do with the decision.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Bullshit. That is the copout that corporations have been using forever but there are two major and fatal problems with it: 1) shareholders choose to invest in companies and 2) they have (with any brains) the voting shares, and thus the ability to change the board of directors and with it the CEO.
So no dice. Whining that "We didn't know that our money invested in the 'White Phosphorus Bombs R Us' will actual
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
There's a difference between investing in companies which publically take part in activities you personally don't agree with (such as weapons manufacture) and investing in outwardly innocent companies which are secretly breaking the law. Of course, once the illegal activity is revealed, what you do next as a shareholder is squarely on your head/conscience.
Re:Let's treat this (Score:5, Informative)
The Constitution defines treason. And this isn't it, much as you'd like it to be.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
I have zero problem with executing corporations, since they aren't actually people anyway. And I think that someone who engages in this kind of government corruption (er, if the other posters saying she was duped are incorrect) being sentenced to hard labor, say... but I'd prefer the state didn't go around killing people, most especially on trumped-up charges of treason. That's too easily abused; seems like a slippery slope to tyranny.
A proper caning (Score:2)
How do people rationalize bribery? (Score:3, Interesting)
Is there a common theme for the rationalizations of mostly-law-abiding people who accept bribes?
The government is so big that it won't matter to them? They tax me so much, they owe this to me? Everyone else does it, so I'm a chump if I'm honest?
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Like it or not, money is pretty much _everything_ in this world. You need it to simply live. You need even more of it to live somewhat comfortably. You need even more of it to get decent health care. You need a bunch more to hold a job in most places as you'll need transportation. After you make some you'll want to make more so you can retire some day. All the while, most people enjoy consuming "stuff". Clothes, games, pictures, movies, etc, etc. All that takes even more money.
My Point? Basically,
Proof Positive that Social Engineering Is Easier (Score:5, Interesting)
This article is an ideal example of a social engineering crack. Consider the comparative difficulty of a technical cracking job and compare it to the simplicity and cheapness of what actually took place. The solution was actually quite elegant in a sordid way.
I once worked for a company that was experiencing a surge of highly organized fraud originating from Romania. Before I left, we were preparing to develop a major anti-fraud application, etc., at great expense. At one meeting I suggested that we just hire a few Romanian private detectives to knock on some doors and quietly suggest to the lowlifes that it would be healthier to leave us alone; the other people in the meeting looked at me as though I were green.
LOL.
Social Engineering (Score:5, Insightful)
Which is better? Govt or Private handling? (Score:2, Insightful)
This is what happens when a fed gets caught doing something that seriously compromises security. They get fired, prosecuted, and punished. We can argue about the degree of punishment later.
What happens in private industry? I'm sure people get fired but do they get publicly prosecuted? Or is there a huge motivation to cover up the story so that stock prices/reputation/business in general doesn't take a hit?
Say what you will about government corruption and incompetence but I firmly believe that U.S. feder
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
"...what kind of "EEO" bullshit got "Tawanna" cushy job as a "project manager" at the DC CTO office."
FYI, DC is a majority black city - having a black government employee there is like having a Native American employed by tribal governments. EEO would only serve to get white and hispanic applicants hired in DC.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
George W. Bush.
Next question please?
Re: (Score:2)
From a purely scientific point of view, one can simply have the party in question organize an official "raffle" or "sales promotion lottery" or some such, ostensibly meant to promote their product or service and open to general public. And since they control the entire process, it would not be too difficult for you to end up with the "winning" raffle ticket.
Purely
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Still beats the hell out of a $25 gift-card, if you ask me ... but then again neither the bribers or the bribees in these two-bit, amateur-hour shows were known for competence or ambition.
For some perspective, consider the Iraq invasion: $3 trillion (and that is just the latest estimate) in cash down the drain, all to private concerns, multiple billions of which are not only unaccounted for, but were actually delivered in form of mountains of $100, $50 and $20 bills on shipping pallets....
And then there i
Re: (Score:2)
Considering most money laundering processes can easily have an efficiency of only 10-20% (ie. you lose up to 80% of the money), I reckon losing 30-40% is a pretty sweet deal.
Re: (Score:2)
In Canada there are no taxes paid on prize winnings. None at all. However, if you win the billion dollars and earn interest off of it, those p
Re: (Score:2)
Same with Australia. Honestly, I don't think most people care. What percentage of people actually wins something, let alone something large enough to get that much a chunk taken out of? The rest of us are probably bitter at them and secretly get jollies off of watching the winners get reamed by the gov't. (Schaudefreude for the win!)
Seriously, people on average would rather get $75k compared to a neighbor's $50k than get $125k compared to a neighbor's $150k. They'd willingly give up 50k JUST to make mo
Re:The problem with bribery (Score:5, Informative)
Reading TFA, it looks as if she didn't sell the password, she gave it away to be helpful, and the contractor only later gave her the $2000 (and gift cards) as a present. I.e. she didn't realise what she was doing, that the password she gave him permitted him, basically, to authorise any bill he chose to submit. So she is primarily guilty of total stupidity rather than criminal intent. Maybe, for the good of the species, such stupidity should be treated as even more criminal - but it isn't.
What this makes clear, yet again, is that the human is the weakest point in any system, and any human who has not received positive training in security is a very weak point indeed. Which says that, whatever the physical security, any government database with thousands of users, let alone hundreds of thousands as planned form some, will be subverted, for certain, within months.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
I dunno, I'd be fine with one million. Keep it in a secure location (you can afford a nice fireproof safe with that much) and just use it to augment your current lifestyle. Don't make outlandish purchases. One million in hundreds isn't that large either: http://www.cockeyed.com/inside/million/million.html [cockeyed.com]
That's the rub though: being careful with it. You can't blow it on Rodeo Drive day one. Limit yourself to a grand a month and spread it around. Can probably deposit some in your normal account occass
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Start a business.
Filter the money in as regular customer payment.
Proper accounting you will take about 10% loss, maybe less.
Not a bad fee to pay to be laundered.
Re: (Score:2)
"ok, how do you plan on explaining how you suddenly got a billion dollars?"
Rich uncle in Nigeria.