17 yo hacks into missile secrets

Boy of 17 hacks into missile secrets

by Standard Foreign News Desk
The Pentagon has had its second major intelligence embarrassment in a week after a teenager in Austria hacked into secret plans, including the location of US nuclear missiles.

The exploits of Markus Hirsch, 17, come only days after British surveillance enthusiast John Locker was able to hack into US spy satellite pictures.

Now an FBI team is on its way to Vienna to question Markus. Their big fear is that Osama bin Laden followers may have enjoyed similar access for months.

American protection of its secrets has never been higher since 11 September, with even the most conservative estimates saying at least £7billion has gone into bolstering security.

But from the computer in his bedroom, Markus was able to get into the most classified Pentagon sites, including the one which details the silos where missiles with multi-megaton warheads are kept.

"Cracking into the Pentagon was child's play," said the teenager. "I know my way round the internet."

Markus, who lived with his mother in Germany for a while when his parents split up, eventually moved into a small flat in Vienna where he now lives alone.

He added: "I don't know anyone here, apart from my granny, so I surf all night on the internet."

Source


My View:
If it was so easy and **** why did he get caught? : P

Unbelievable, I don't even see why they would keep computers with that kind of information on them on the same network with a internet connection. Thats just plain stupid, that stuff should be physically isolated. If it was isolated it SHOULD be impossible to get into.

This is really old news, it whas all over the european CNN, the minute he got into the system the phone rang, the feds called him right away and 5 minutes later the Polizei whas at the front door.

Oh and he didn't hack anything, he could just get all the info he wanted, a person capable of using the internet and search engines could have done the same.

The article seems to glorify things, just seems like they're looking for an interesting story and they got it.

"The exploits of Markus Hirsch, 17, come only days after British surveillance enthusiast John Locker was able to hack into US spy satellite pictures."

just to clarify john locker didn't "hack" anything basicly he just pointed he satilite in a dierction and recived the signal.

Do I smell a a script kiddie. Even though you wouldn't have to use anything to intercept those signals. If he knew his was around the internet I am sure he just found a site telling him how to do that.

hehe 60 yr old script kiddie

man i wish i had that skill not 2 hack pentagon $hit but just having the knowledge is eough for me

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Originally posted here by lench
man i wish i had that skill not 2 hack pentagon $hit but just having the knowledge is eough for me

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He was probaly a script kiddie, and since he said he knew his way around the net he could find the irght programs.

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If it was so easy and **** why did he get caught?

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Well he got caught cause:

A.) He didn't care
B.) Didn't cover his tracks
C.) He hacked into the PENTAGON
D.) All of the above

Hrm... I pick D. From what I read he dosen't have a life and he surfed the internet untill he fount and exploit he could use to his advantage. You would think that such critical information would be better protected. *sigh*

Remote_Access_

i agree with pastypro, why the hell would the pentagon keep computers..online???... with the locations of nuclear missles, what did someone 500 feet underground want to see what they missed on friends so had to go to their website. 7 billion pounds and they cant keep a 17 year old out of their computer.. something wrong there

It sounds a bit too-sensational for me. I'm betting there's more (or less) than it seems to this story. Sort of like when the PRC's national paper used an article from The Onion...

How much do you want to bet that the Pentagon has never given any formal statement and that the kid is perhaps embellishing a bit?

this gives me two questions in my mind.. either the boy is too good with his computers.. or the US security is ... too bad....

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Originally posted here by intruder
this gives me two questions in my mind.. either the boy is too good with his computers.. or the US security is ... too bad....

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I'm betting on the US security being low. Remember these systems are setup by the lowest bidder :)

Quote:

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"Cracking into the Pentagon was child's play," said the teenager. "I know my way round the internet."

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If he knows the way round the internet then why he was busted.

The US Security was probaly low. They had a 17 yo crack into the Canadian military, I can't remember where I found that information....the site was filled with hacking stories.