U.S. military security defeated by copy and paste | CNET News.com — You have to read this article after reading the comments by Dvorak Uncensored reader, Matt Livingston (excerpted below). He deconstructs the article. Interesting.
This article describes how users – outsiders- no wait – attackers were able to defeat military security by copy and pasting text out of an Adobe PDF! Impressive eh!
Anyway, in the article I noticed that users became “outsiders” and then in less then three paragraphs were magically transformed into “attackers”! Da da da da!
“Portions of the document had been “blacked out” by electronic means. But apparently it was possible for outsiders to copy and paste the blacked-out sections into another file–and see the text that had been hidden.”
“The technique used would indeed have protected the data if the document were being read online or printed. However, by an attacker selecting the blacked-out text and using the copy and paste function, he or she could easily reproduce the document in its entirety on any word processing application.”
So I guess that C-Net is now suggesting that anyone who is smart enough to out fox those geniuses at military intelligence by copying and pasting text are now to be considered as ATTACKERS! Please! — Livingston
That’s embarrassing, not the propaganda, but the fact that I read it previously but didn’t notice it. My tinfoil hat must not be working correctly.
Seriously, I’m not surprised by this. We live in a world where holding the shift key when inserting a music CD violates the DMCA and where using source view and modifying a URL is hacking. It only makes sense that copy and pasting should also violate federal law too.
As I see it,
1) The unit that setup the road block was untrained in road blocks,
2) The roadblock was supposed to be there for only about 15 minutes, to guard the route of the American ambassador,
3) Someone forgot to tell this unit they could dismantle the roadblock; they were still there more then an hour later
4) The roadblock was not marked; apparently the reflective markers were still in storage,
5) The Italians claim that the Americans were notified of the trip, but the entire American brass claim they know nothing,
6) The journalist was a communist working for a communist newspaper,
7) Traveling at a moderate speed, a sudden flashlight shining at me would not get my attention that I should stop in a dangerous city. Especially when the location of the flashlight was not marked as a roadblock.
8) The route was a common one for both people going to the airport and for terrorists and suicide bombers,
9) The Italians strongly disagreed with the American version of the facts. The Italian Prime Minister then toned down the report written by the Italian representatives,
10) The Pentagon puts out their version of the events by releasing a redacted version of the report. Someone, either on purpose or accidentally, discovers that the redacted portions are visible under certain conditions.
Yup, somebody’s at fault. I fully agree that the “computer attackers” should bear the blame for this fiasco.
The document shows an idiotic plan well executed. The occupying force recognizes that the roads are prone to resistance attacks, requiring access points to be sealed while its “VIP” convoys rush between fortified enclaves. An access ramp with a curved approach is blocked by a squad parking a light armored vehicle off the road while soldiers with a spotlight and a laser pointer try to blind approaching drivers into stopping. Cars that don’t stop are treated to a machine gunning.
Unfortunately a foreign national gets into the trap and attracts media attention to the fiasco.
The official report is then censored to remove personal details and some operational intelligence, but the “intelligence” operatives manage to screw that up too.
Question: How many Iraqis were shot at similar roadblocks? If any were, have they been labelled as “insurgents” for their terrorist refusal to stop when bright lights are shone in their faces at night on a highway renowned for bombings and shootings?