It has been reported that a tiny Raspberry Pi computer has been used to steal data from Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. An audit report reveals the gadget was used to take about 500MB of data. It said two of the files that were taken dealt with the international transfer of restricted military and space technology. The attacker who used the device to hack the network went undetected for about 10 months.
Andrea Carcano, CPO and Co-Founder at Nozomi Networks:
“The new report released by NASA’s Inspector General on the cybersecurity flaws discovered within the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) further proves the need for visibility within every connected network. The report points out that JPL was ineffective in preventing, detecting and mitigating attacks on its system because of the lack of visibility and an inaccurate network inventory, and highlights the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) best practices, a group which was established to improve critical infrastructure cybersecurity risks and assist agencies in managing the effectiveness of security controls over information resources.
“As a government agency that is responsible for the science and technology of air and space, NASA is considered a critical infrastructure – one that holds important, private and proprietary information. Like every other critical infrastructure organization, full security audits should be performed regularly, as it is the only way for businesses, government agencies, and operators alike to know what security vulnerabilities lie within their network. Once this step is taken, then an incident management and response plan can be put into place. Overall, it is essential to know each and every device that is connected to a network to ensure sound security. You can’t control what you can’t see, and you can’t see alterations in uncharted waters.”
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