A defense attorney’s dream? Certainly sounds strange. You must
train your people to seek help when anything like this happens.
Where was the backup?
Records
lacking for computer attack on sheriff’s office
Records of a ransomware attack on the Hidalgo
County Sheriff’s Office are nonexistent, leaving little details
available with the exception of an investigator’s testimony during
a recent trial.
HCSO investigator Marco Antonio Mandujano lost
data obtained from an early 2017 dump of a sexual assault victim’s
cellphone because the computer on which it was downloaded got a
“virus,” according to his Sept. 26 testimony in the 370th
District Court.
… “The data on the phone dump was wiped out
because we are connected to
the Internet, [A
contributing factor, but not the cause. Bob] and somehow
the computer program — Well, actually, the computer itself got a
virus … and we couldn’t get into it,” the transcript of his
testimony reads. “... It was asking for ransom — the computer
virus. So there was no way to get into it … The whole computer
memory was erased — the hard drive.”
HCSO has no records of the attack, Sheriff J.E.
“Eddie” Guerra said Friday, because neither
Mandujano nor the IT technician submitted reports about the data
loss. [Police
fail to report a crime? Really? Bob]
The Monitor previously submitted an open records
request on Oct. 16 for specifics about the date or dates of any
ransomware attack on the sheriff's office in 2017, as well as details
about the attack. HCSO replied on Oct. 24: “Our office does not
have any information responsive to your request.”
Mandujano testified it was his opinion that the
data obtained from the dump was of no use to the investigation, and
thus the ransomware attack had no impact on his findings, according
to the transcript. [Can
you spell “Exculpatory?”
Bob]
… The ransomware attack occurred on a computer
in HCSO’s east substation in Weslaco, Guerra said. It is one of
only two HCSO computers that is part of its internet-based computer
network. These computers do not have restrictions on sites like
Facebook and Craigslist that computers on HCSO’s internal network
do.
… Guerra did not require the report be written
retroactively, but said from now on, he would require investigators
and IT personnel to write reports of any data lost from these
computers.
The likelihood of lost data, however, is slim, the
sheriff said, because since
Mandujano lost the data from the cellphone dump, HCSO
requires investigators to automatically backup the data on a disc.
Wow! The Google is a powerful tool! This is why
we were taught not to repeat any public facing ‘things’ exactly.
That should have included websites.
Iran
Reportedly Used Google To Crack A CIA Communications System, Leading
To ‘Dozens’ Of Deaths
Yahoo News
reported
that in a breach that occurred around 2010, Iranian agents used
simple Google searches to identify and then infiltrate the websites
that the CIA was using to communicate with agents, according to two
former US intelligence officials. The breach would reportedly lead
to dozens of deaths around the globe and a cascade of consequences
that spanned years.
Former
officials say they believe the breach originated with an Iranian
double agent that was hired by the CIA — what they claim would be a
result of lax vetting.
… According to one former official, the
Iranian double agent showed Iranian intelligence the website that the
CIA was using for their communications. By using Boolean search
operators like “AND” and “OR”, stringing together
characteristics of the communications and websites, Iranian
intelligence was reportedly able to locate multiple other websites
that the CIA was using for its communications. From there, Iran
could track who was visiting the sites and from where — eventually
exposing a large swath of the CIA’s network in Iran.
Not how I remember my MBA…
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