back to article Angry Brazilian whacks NASA to put a stop to ... er, the NSA

Multiple NASA websites were defaced last week by a Brazilian hacktivist who may have misread the sites' URLs, because he wasn't protesting about the US space agency giving joyrides to inhuman stowaways – he was protesting against NSA spying. “BMPoC” hit kepler.arc.nasa.gov and 13 other sites with messages protesting against US …

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  1. deadlockvictim

    NASA spies

    Probably alien representatives on Earth complaining about NASA's intrusive data collection policy on Mars, other planets and the universe in general.

    1. Ralph B

      Re: NASA spies

      In which case they'll probably be coming after the SETI@home clients next.

      I, for one, welcome our new data protection overlords.

      1. Anonymous Custard
        Alien

        Re: NASA spies

        And I suppose when you think about it, given quite how much NSA data probably does come from satellite observations and suchlike, it could arguably be getting at the underlying source.

        Or is that just the NRO (who maybe the next target, as they sound similar too) and Google Maps (no comparison between big G and the NSA needed)?

  2. Terry 6 Silver badge

    Actually.....

    "It's hard to believe anyone would confuse the NSA spy agency with NASA,".

    I think they might have, judging by the barmy message.

    1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
      Facepalm

      Re: Actually.....

      Sheepish admission time:

      I saw various headlines online about revelations that General Alexander the head of NASA had built himself a 'Star Trek bridge' and this proved he was some sort of maniacal digital cowboy, trying to take over the world. I found this somewhat confusing, especially as I didn't think he was in charge of NASA. Until I finally took a close look at one, and realised that it read NSA.

      I'm a bear of very little brain...

    2. Squander Two

      Re: Actually.....

      I find it extremely easy to believe that someone might make a stupid spelling-related mistake. I just tried again, to check, and yep: I still believe it.

  3. Terry 6 Silver badge

    Come to think of it....

    Now I think about it, didn't a number of USA citizens cancel their trips to Australia a few years back when there were bombing in Vienna. So I guess a Brazilian confusing NSA/NASA isn't too far fetched anyway.

    1. Anonymous IV

      Re: Come to think of it....

      "War is God's way of teaching Americans geography."

      Ambrose Bierce

      1. Irony Deficient

        not from Bierce

        Anonymous IV, although that quote has the flavor of a Biercism, it actually came from the brain of stand-up comic/actor Paul Rodriguez: War is God’s way of teaching us geography.

        1. Frumious Bandersnatch

          Re: not from Bierce

          @Irony Deficient:

          I was ready to downvote you for that, but a search suggests that you're actually correct. Have an upvote instead for being all edumafiying and ting.

    2. Wzrd1 Silver badge

      Re: Come to think of it....

      Well, the script kiddies aren't going to get into the NSA website, so they picked the low hanging fruit.

      Actually, considering NASA's history, that fruit is always on the ground.

      As for geography, most US citizens couldn't even find the US on a map. I won't even go into how many can't find Afghanistan, far too many think it's next door to Saudi Arabia.

      I'm ashamed to say of my countrymen that the United States of America is a large village.

      Full of village idiots.

      Apparently, Brazil is trying to close the idiot gap.

  4. rcorrect
    Trollface

    LOL WUT

    http://www.lolwut.com/layout/lolwut.jpg (pic related)

  5. Velv
    Coat

    I had a whole different train of thought when the headline "Angry Brazilian" caught my eye.

    I really should get out more

    1. Squander Two

      To be fair, it is quite unusual for El Reg to use the word "Brazilian" to refer to an entire human, rather than just their genitals.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Well my Brazilian is a bit red and raw. Stinged like hell when I put aftershave on it.

      Now, must remember to post this anonymously ...

  6. Anonymous Custard
    Joke

    Check your firewall!

    He'll be after your NAS drives next...

  7. lski

    well both are "national"

    Viewing from outside the usa NASA and NSA are both financed from the same coffer. Obviously protesting to the NSA does nothing so the protesting is aimed at americans in general.. maybe it's trying to make the point to american citizens that they can't just say one thing while another organization financed from the same coffer does something entirely different. Americans do it all the time, take glory from the good things the state does and then say that it's not them doing the bad things the government does, like the government was a different nation of it's own.

    1. ian 22

      Re: well both are "national"

      "Americans"? Bit of a broad brush to claim they are all responsible. Much like claiming all Muslims are responsible for the 11September atrocity.

      Assuming you are correct, are all British subjects responsible for GCHQ's activities, or Blair's for that matter?

    2. Wzrd1 Silver badge

      Re: well both are "national"

      If that is the case, they missed the mark by a lot.

      Most US citizens don't visit NASA sites. They'd far rather go to Twitter or Facebook than anything scientific, especially as they don't understand most of what NASA does.

      As for our attitude with our government, you're partially correct. But, we also despise our government and distrust it.

      Largely due to the fact that when we correspond with our congresscritters, we typically get a barely polite sod off letter. Regardless of how many voters write in.

      Besides, this describes governments at their best:

      http://www.despair.com/meetings.html

  8. Sander van der Wal

    Seems quite reasonable to me

    English isn't everybody's favorite second language, and secondly, how many people from the English speaking world are able to keep track of all the Brazilian three- and four letter organizations out there?

    1. Wzrd1 Silver badge

      Re: Seems quite reasonable to me

      A short list is, the CIA, NSA, NRO, GCHQ... ;)

  9. Mtech25
    Black Helicopters

    At first I thought he was a crackpot

    But when he mention the Illuminati I know now he is on to the NASA secret plan to us the NSA scandal as a distraction as they clone Buzz Aldrin using Alien and human DNA in there secret Area 52 facility, if anyone needs me you know where I plan to be

    1. Wzrd1 Silver badge

      Re: At first I thought he was a crackpot

      That facility was closed and the operation placed on the downgraded installation 33 1/3.

      Damned sequester!

  10. Graham Marsden
    Facepalm

    What next...?

    NiSA supermarkets?

    1. frank ly

      Re: What next...?

      I'm boycotting ASDA as part of my small protest.

      1. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge

        Re: What next...?

        As the slogan says

        'Every little helps' (I know it is the wrong supermarket)

        but it seems quite apt.

        I've been boycotting ASDA as well ever since they started charging to park. Morrison's, about a mile away does not charge.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: What next...?

          Well off topic, but I've been boycotting ASDA for years.

          Ever since my missus tripped over a concealed support for a temporary clothing rail and dislocated her knee.

          When I went back to take a photo the rail had gone and they denied point blank that there had ever been one there.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            ASDA

            Likewise, though because I used to work for them rather than anything else. They were abominable to their staff. Stupid hours, blame-passing, forgetting to pay, all sorts of crap and all backed up by a union that took every opportunity to collude with the senior management against the "colleagues" they were supposed to represent.

            To put it in perspective: when Walmart bought them, working conditions improved.

            Says it all.

            And they were horrendously messy as well. I don't touch asda unless I have no choice.

            1. Wzrd1 Silver badge

              Re: ASDA

              They had me at paying for parking.

              If I ever move to the UK, I know one place I'll not patronize.

    2. g e

      Goodbye SAN

      I've ordered our new £250,000 SAN destroyed because it can't be trusted. They're out the back with sledgehammers right now...

      1. Phil E Succour
        Joke

        Re: Goodbye SAN

        >>I've ordered our new £250,000 SAN destroyed because it can't be trusted. They're out

        >> the back with sledgehammers right now...

        Just ship it to the Guardian offices and the UK government will send some guys around to do it for you...

  11. NightFox

    What is it with NASA and bad IT security? I remember getting my Commodore 64 modem in 1985/6 second hand, along with a copy of The Hackers Handbook and a printed list of phone numbers, IDs and passwords which was widely circulating at the time. Of all the companies and organisations on there, the only one anyone was really interested in was NASA because, well because it was NASA. So while everyone else was playing Jet Set Willy you were hacking NASA.

    MIght need to find that list though and just check it wasn't actually the NSA...

    1. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge
      Black Helicopters

      Watch out

      The men in beige raincoats and dark glasses will be around to cart you off to Gitmo. You have just admitted much the same crime as Gary M.

    2. Paul Crawford Silver badge

      NASA security

      This probably covers it:

      http://xkcd.com/932/

      NASA has a lot of public-facing low-importance web sites that don't get maintained/updated for years. I'm surprised this is not more common really.

      1. Wzrd1 Silver badge

        Re: NASA security

        Pretty much.

        Though, due to legal requirements and NASA's disobedience to them (there are baseline requirements mandated by law that should prevent this), I'm wondering of NASA is simply a gigantic honeypot.

        It's something *I* would do.

    3. Wzrd1 Silver badge

      It wasn't.

      Back then, the very existence of the NSA was classified.

      The joke was, NSA stood for No Such Agency.

      Still, even money those old usernames and passwords still work. :/

      Their only secure networks are ones like NIPRnet, SIPRnet and JWICS because the DoD would pull their ATO (Authority To Operate) and sever their network connection.

      I had to get an ATO once, after the installation I was working on had been on an IATO (Interim ATO) for so long it was literally illegal and we risked being severed from the DoD networks. A rather big deal, as the installation was in the war zone.

      Loads and loads of documentation and a copy of our baseline configurations that complied with DoD baseline requirements. On *every* piece of equipment we had on the network.

      Being a good BOFH, I had things tidied up quickly.

      Only had one accidental toaster in a swimming pool at that! (Thought I'd need two and one killer robot accident.)

      Management complied quite nicely. :)

  12. Parax
    Alert

    Misunderstanding, but whose?

    I read that this protest was targeted at Nasa for a recent launch of a Delta IV Heavy from Vandenburg with a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office (Spy satellite)... ie stop spying on us.

    So it's possible that it was an intentional hack on Nasa. Those who are hacked are always quick to discredit the hackers.. (so ask yourself who has the biggest media team?)

    Though I'm not sure how involved Nasa was in this launch as Vandenburg is an airforce property isn't it?

    1. Wzrd1 Silver badge

      Re: Misunderstanding, but whose?

      Yep! Vandenburg Air Force base.

      Completely unrelated to NASA.

      The last time they were integral was in the mid cold war.

      Then, some Apollo thing came along and injected loads of money.

  13. John Lilburne

    Of course it wouldn't be the first time that the 'informed' had got the wrong end of the stick.

    http://www.adequacy.org/stories/2001.12.2.42056.2147.html

  14. Huw D

    Reminds me of this SOPA f**K up.

    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/01/23/freetard_sopa_fail/

  15. John H Woods Silver badge

    Stop the spying ...

    ... boycott GQ Magazine.

  16. Don Jefe
    Happy

    Overzealous?

    It is entirely possible, probable even, that the hacker in question was simply over zealous in his efforts to protest. Portuguese is certainly his first language and NSA comes out a bit differently: "Agência de Segurança Nacional", mostly...

    There's plenty of room for confusion there for someone not familiar with stupid wacky English language structure. If police and SWAT teams can get the address wrong and raid the wrong houses certainly this guy is due some leeway.

    The conversations have to be hilarious though: "God damnit Francisco, you hacked the wrong site" "No I didn't" "Yes you did you idiot. You hacked the space agency and now everyone is laughing at us. I told you to let Enrique handle this, his English is much better. Now we are fools!"

    1. Pascal Monett Silver badge

      If Enrique had mentioned the Illuminati, they'd still be fools even if they HAD hacked the NSA.

      On another point, it is sad that the agency that has brought Humanity to the Moon is considered "low-hanging fruit".

      1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
        Happy

        I think you'll find that the moon is not low-hanging fruit. It's low-hanging cheese...

      2. Don Jefe
        Happy

        Sure, they'd still be fools. But I'm sure he (they?) took himself seriously.

        Kind of like how the NSA takes themselves seriously but have been exposed as a bunch of bungling incompetents with repressed live action role playing fantasies :)

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Entirely Possible

          This is the NSA's way of goading the Brazillians, by making them out as fools.....much the same way as the Eurosport ad with Pele talking about erectional disfunction.

    2. Wzrd1 Silver badge

      Re: Overzealous?

      English is stupid and wacky?!

      Not at all!

      It's simply insane.

      *Every* rule has an exception.

      No exception to the rule makes a damned bit of sense.

      An extremely well educated friend of mine once said, "The first man who fully documented the English language went insane and killed himself".

      I never checked the veracity of that statement, but consider it true.

      English *is* that fsck'd up.

      Especially American English, which I was raised in.

      But, I speak reasonably fluent *true* English. As well as languages that make more sense.

      Starting to forget those learned tongues, I've been retired from the military and no longer exposed to them.

      And I'm getting older.

      English. A language brought to a fair amount of the world to bring about civilization.

      Brought to you by the people who consider blood pudding noteworthy.

  17. This post has been deleted by its author

    1. Don Jefe

      Re: Got the basics right

      As opposed to a vicious herbivorous spider?

      1. This post has been deleted by its author

  18. Jerky Jerk face

    come on admit it: Who read this thread because of the lovely Brazilian volleyball bottom on the pic :D

  19. 100113.1537

    Well...

    I would not rule out stupidity - we've had demonstrations outside the Czech Republic embassy from people complaining about Chechnya and Osama bin Laden once included Norway on a list of targets - in mistake for Nigeria.

  20. ian 22

    And I've always suspected George W Bush mistook Iraq for Iran. The names are rather similar... Especially to a simian.

    1. Wzrd1 Silver badge

      Give due respect, Pan Sapiens.

      Or Homo Troglodytes. Take your pick.

      The entomologists are still in the middle of a bar fight over it.

    2. John 62

      re: Iran/Iraq

      Bush II was partly motivated by revenge after Saddam tried to assassinate Bush I. So there.

      Plus, southern Iraq (the bit that had been most hostile to the US) has much less challenging geography for warfighting than Iran has. Iran is a huge, populous country and was much richer than Iraq and hence far more difficult to conquer. My view is that the pentagon, after invading Afghanistan reckoned that invading Iraq would put Iran in a squeeze.

      Arguably Bush II's failure was putting too much compassionate conservatism into the war effort. The US is still untouchable technologically, but the will to win a war seems to have left the US, and the rest of the West (France is an odd exception, having no qualms about aggressively policing its former colonies like Mali and Cote d'Ivoire, toppling Qadafi, and now sabre-rattling at Syria).

  21. Stevie

    Bah!

    Gorbachev sings Tractor! Turnip! Buttocks!

  22. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Comic Jeremy Hardy

    "Brazilian protestors line-up in a narrow row right down the middle."

    (or something like that...)

  23. Sureo

    Maybe they should go after the NRA while they're at it?

    1. Wzrd1 Silver badge

      As an owner of a dozen firearms, half of which were inherited from my dementia ridden father, a hunter and prize competition shooter, I'd be happy with that.

      The NRA currently is insanity mixed with firearms.

      We saw the results of that mix in a Navy yard in Washington, D.C. recently.

      In the US, the lunatics rule the asylum.

      I'd not be especially upset, but with all of the shootings and worse, the nuclear arms.

      I'm on a few gun related blogs, to monitor things and learn an occasional thing about new products that I'll not acquire.

      Things are looking *very* worrisome.

  24. John 62

    Hubble

    Hubble is a repurposed spy satellite, so there is a connection!

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