NASA investigating hacker theft of sensitive documents

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

Forwarded from: William Knowles <wk () c4i org>

http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/hacking/story/0,10801,73305,00.html

By DAN VERTON 
AUGUST 08, 2002

WASHINGTON -- NASA cybercrime investigators are looking into the theft
of militarily significant design documents pertaining to the next
generation of reusable space vehicles.

The documents, which are restricted under current export laws from
being shared with foreign nationals or governments and are also
strictly controlled under the International Trafficking in Arms
Regulations (ITAR), were obtained by Computerworld from a hacker who
claims to be based in Latin America.

The documents were authored by contractors from The Boeing Co. and a
joint venture between East Hartford, Conn.-based Pratt & Whitney and
Sacramento, Calif.-based Aerojet. All of the vendors also labeled the
documents "competition sensitive," and while it is not yet clear
whether sensitive data on military and commercial technologies may
have been compromised, defense and intelligence experts said the
incident could have both national security and political
ramifications.

Bob Jacobs, a spokesman for NASA, confirmed that the documents contain
sensitive military information and should have been stored in a closed
database. There is no information on how or from where the documents
were stolen, and investigators couldn't confirm whether a hacking
incident had taken place.

However, a hacker known only by the nickname RaFa, a former member of
the now defunct World of Hell Hacker gang, uploaded to a Web site more
than 43MB worth of documents, including a 15-part PowerPoint
presentation that included detailed engineering drawings. The
documents also included detailed mechanical design information on the
COBRA space shuttle engine design program, and the risk reduction plan
for the Boeing TA4 Advanced Checkout, Control & Maintenance System
(ACCMS). The ACCMS is essentially the ground control system for the
next generation of space shuttles.

NASA's 2nd Generation Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) program is part of
the agency's long-term Space Launch Initiative, a multibillion-dollar
effort to design a new, safer and more efficient space transportation
architecture by 2005. The Defense Department is a key partner in the
effort because of its interest in the RLV program's applicability to
military satellite programs and future military space plane designs.

"These particular records would probably be of most interest to a
country trying to build their own space launch vehicle," said Steven
Aftergood, an analyst at the Federation of American Scientists in
Washington. However, "I'm not sure that anyone else could use them
either for good or ill."

On the other hand, "the ITAR provisions are quite strict, and they
entail serious penalties for violations," said Aftergood. "If a
private person transferred ITAR documents abroad, he could be subject
to hefty fines or jail time."

Allen Thomson, a former CIA scientist, said this type of information
would likely be of interest to so-called "peer competitors" in the
commercial and military space market, such as Russia and Japan.  
However, the general concern is that the documents could contain
information that would be of use in countering the capabilities of a
military version of the RLV, said Thomson.

John Pescatore, an analyst at Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner Inc., said
the disclosure of the documents on the Internet is "a very bad thing,"  
mainly because it may represent only "the tip of the iceberg."

"Many limited distribution documents can be aggregated to indicate
very sensitive information," said Pescatore. "Another problem is the
ability for someone to modify one of these documents and put it back
where they found it -- there are many more possibilities for damaging
incidents under that scenario, too."



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