back to article Obama chopper plans leaked on file-sharing nets

Confidential blueprints and specifications for the planned new US presidential helicopters have been accidentally leaked to the torrents by download-hungry defence contractors, according to reports. WPXI News reported at the weekend on findings by Pennsylvania security firm Tiversa, tagline: "The P2P Intelligence Experts - Do …

COMMENTS

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Torrent linkz plz

    Come on- it's in the public domain now! Let's see what Obama's going to be saving the world in!

  2. Dave Harris
    Black Helicopters

    Unauthorised leakage?

    Or was this a case of someone saying "I wonder, if these schematics were to be found on a machine in Public Enemy #1, would that put the kaibosh on those commie-lovin' euro-liberals getting the contract?"

  3. Andrew Moore
    Black Helicopters

    Hmmmmmm...

    Sounds like the ideal way to scupper plans to aware the contract overseas...

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I wouldn't bother

    If they're the same drawings used to build the VH-71 then they're nothing special.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    IT Angle

    As usual, the wrong head'll roll...

    Sure, the user who installed the P2P crap shouldn't have done so - but how come they could, and how come it didn't get picked up at the network perimeter security...?

  6. John Mackenzie
    Black Helicopters

    Front View Picture

    <----- A quick search on El Reg found this front view of said chopper...

  7. Tony Hoyle

    Gov. has no clue about security, news at 11

    There's no way in a hell a machine with access to that kind of information should have been reachable from the internet anyway. Even a home user knows how to operate a basic firewall.. clearly government contractors aren't required to even have this knowledge. IT should have detected the software on that machine (and asked questions on how the hell it got there in the first place) and preemtively fired the person that installed it *long* before it got to this stage.

    They aren't even starting to get any better... one person 'may' lose their job? What the hell? How about lockheed lose all government contracts until they can prove they know how to handle sensitive documents.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    What a coincedence!

    If we look on the internet, we can now find detailed plans of Obama's chopper - as well as videos of Paris Hilton showing us what she likes to do with one...

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I'd love to see em.

    I've been looking for these specs for some time. This means they're no longer secret. If anybody knows where they can be downloaded, please share. :)

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Black Helicopters

    Sounds fishy ...

    "I'm sure that person is embarrassed and may even lose their job"

    Lose their job?

    Would this not be a clear case of irresponsible distribution of secret material?

    I thought a more typical punishment was a 26 year prison sentence.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Alert

    The lession there is....

    This is what happens, ladies and gentlemen, when you allow users to have admin permissions on their machines.

    I'll bet that there was also some smiley software installed and some software that "gives your PC a boost" as well.

  12. Ru
    Black Helicopters

    Surprise,

    Company handling the project involving buying military kit from evil socialist Europeans rather than home grown honest American arms manufacturers has a mysterious and embarassing security prolapse.

    Totally not suspicious, probably just natural incompetence.

    Probably.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Black Helicopters

    @John Mackenzie

    Top view mate, not front :)

    Clam

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The problem is...?

    “Once it's out there, it's hard to get it back," added the former NATO supreme commander. "I don't think the full ramifications of this have been understood by the watchdog agencies.”

    That's funny, 'cos I always have IT security bods telling me security through obscurity is a lame idea!

  15. Simon Williams
    Black Helicopters

    @ John Mackenzie

    That's not a front view, unless Marine One has a very idiosyncratic design. More like an underview.

  16. Lionel Baden

    well it might be a front view

    depending on the speed of the thing :D

    @dudeskinn

    Oh i so wish we could revoke all rights on our user machines but hohnestly we couldnt manage the amount of requests comming in that would be just bull

  17. Lars Silver badge
    Unhappy

    Perhaps I am a bit pessimistic

    But i belive no blueprints are needed to drop a chopper. Did we miss any view.

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    documents not classified

    All classified documents and files are strictly controlled. Those machines are not on the internet. Mechanical engineers designing at their desk working on parts or documents that are not subject to classification are connected to the internet (so we can read the register while things compile). These documents are still sensitive though and any idiot that installs file sharring software should get 50 lashes.

  19. Sam Crawley
    Go

    Discovered on an IP address in Tehran?

    Am I the only one to smell a rat here.. Presumably once files are swarming their way about on the P2P networks they are almost everywhere - interesting that they chose to highlight Iran of all the countries where presumably the files ended up - I'll lay a pint on the odds that they ended up in Moscow too, but no mention of that, eh? Dammit with those fast internet connections those pesky Persians could potentially upload this Weapon of Mass Download to Europe in 45 minutes.. Generals, we have that excuse we've been looking for...!

  20. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    A cunning plan!

    Iran, China and the Soviets, sorry I mean Russia, will now be unable to resist building a copy of the hardware. Considering the price tag attached to it, this is likely to suck up all their military monies and THEN WE WIN FOREVAR.

  21. Miami Mike

    What we could do . . .

    is "seed" the internet and all the file sharing programs with deliberate disinformation.

    We have historical precedent - "Aurora" - supersecret Mach 7 spyplane, powered by dilithium hydroxide, range 15,000 miles at 150,000 feet, invisible to radar, hoo-hah!

    Except it never existed other than as a spoof to get the Russians to spend LOTS of money trying to duplicate the non-existent (and impossible) technology - and they took the bait, hook, line and sinker and actually got to the cutting metal stage on an aircraft that couldn't be built . . .

    Just suppose that these plans that were "leaked" are the same thing . . . Iran will spend lots of money and time trying to attack/defeat non-existent threats, which will distract them from the REAL threats.

    Either that, or the leaker shouldn't be imprisoned, he should be shot for treason.

  22. Bounty
    Black Helicopters

    @ Simon Williams

    ....and here I was thinking it was an above view all along!

  23. LaeMi Qian
    Thumb Up

    and this is why...

    ...the university I work in IT support at doesn't allow P2P software on academic's office PCs (which can potentially contain millions of dollars worth of pre-patent data). I am forwarding this article link to my boss as yet another thing to show the "I wanna do what I wanna do on 'my' PC (no, it is the university's PC) because I have PhDs (in non-IT fields)" brigade. Not that they will believe THEY could ever be so dumb.

    Note: the vast majority of academics here just want to do their research/teaching and are quite eager to have someone else do all the tedious mucking around to keep their PC working and virus-free, but some self-styled 'experts' are just a PITA. You can be very brilliant in one field and a complete nonce outside of it.

  24. Martin
    Stop

    silly contractor

    He's going to have a hard time convincing the authorities that he's a pr0n connoisseur and not a spy that happens to leak his information via P2P. Very silly.

  25. James Woods

    ha

    When people in government make mistakes they get promoted not fired or punished. That's how government works. Our entire trading sector basically blew up the last few months, did anyone from the SEC have any problems? Nah they were just doing their jobs.

  26. Jared Vanderbilt

    Hum ... now where did I save the Nuke warhead blueprints?

    Better ring up the server in Tehran to track down where my files are stored. This server could become a Google alternative for locating sensitive military information.

  27. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    I wasn't aware we used blueprints...

    I mean seriously, who does these days? Catia / Autocad would be a tad more believeable but blueprints?

  28. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
    Black Helicopters

    Ha Ha I can has Secret Blueprints!

    >> Hum ... now where did I save the Nuke warhead blueprints? Better ring up the server in Tehran to track down where my files are stored.

    You are late to the party. Well-informed rumor has it that the nuke crap has already been sold off to at least Turkey by a level "really not too far below POTUS" for quick cash & hookers from the Clinton administration onwards.

  29. Matt Bryant Silver badge
    Happy

    RE: and this is why...

    Don't worry, take my word there are plenty of complete nonces with good IT knowledge who still think their work PC is "their PC" and install all types of insecure applications on them, and still think their IT department telling them not to is a PITA. My fave was the security insultant who brought a laptop onsite with a freeware FTP server installed, which just happened to include a rather nasty worm.

  30. kain preacher

    Hmmm

    are these the real ones or some thing some uploaded to look cool, or is this the blue prints of the base model helicopter? .

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