Nuclear Lab Remains Vulnerable to Cyberstrikes, Energy IG says

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

http://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2013/02/nuclear-lab-remains-vulnerable-cyberstrikes-energy-ig-says/61347/

By Chris Schneidmiller
Global Security Newswire
February 15, 2013

A leading U.S. nuclear arms site has taken significant steps in recent years to 
defend against strikes on its computer systems, but key weaknesses remain to be 
fixed, the Energy Department’s inspector general said this week.

The Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico uses a host of information 
systems and networks to carry out its duties, which include research and 
production programs in support of maintaining the nation’s nuclear arsenal, 
Inspector General Gregory Friedman said in a memorandum attached to a 
cybersecurity report.

“The vulnerabilities in the report do cover national security systems (systems 
which process classified data),” Felicia Jones, spokeswoman for the DOE 
Inspector General’s Office, told Global Security Newswire by e-mail. “We cannot 
comment on whether or not these systems pertained to the lab’s nuclear arms 
work.”

Friedman’s office in previous audits has found vulnerabilities in Los Alamos’ 
defenses against computer-based assaults, such as insufficient monitoring at 
the laboratory and federal levels and key protections that did not work 
correctly.

[...]

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