Truth About Computer Security Hysteria

Military veterans threaten DoD cyber-security, part 2

The TRICARE [medical] web site (http://www.tricare.osd.mil) may be not be available to non ".MIL" addressees due to security precautions taken to protect the site from the Code Red virus... If you're unable to get desired information from the web sites, suggest you contact your local TRICARE office or health benefits adviser for assistance.

Let the record show: unbridled fear about the Code Red worm crippled U.S. military websites. (Twice already!) I repeat: fear crippled the military, not Code Red itself. The Pentagon spent untold millions to install reliable Internet connections, yet its own "on off on off" decision-making renders those same connections unreliable.

One Army soldier (assumed reliable source) tells me he signed up for computer-based training, but he can't complete it — because he only works on his military course from home. If any other uniformed members suffered the same fate, then I urge you to file for an extension to your course completion deadline. You shouldn't pay a penalty for the Pentagon's stupidity.

Truly, we have nothing to fear but fear itself.

TRICARE's website remains offline for the moment, but the U.S. Air Force continues to play peekaboo with the Internet. Non-military users may once again access base golf course layouts and other such critical information — but who knows for how long? The flyboys shut down networks worldwide whenever a 14yr-old Palestinian hacker puts anti-American rhetoric on his website.

Ironically, a hacker's website will remain up & running while EF-111 pilots run through their network shutdown checklists.

Of course, I've come to expect this kind of bizarre thinking from our "zoomie electron defenders." It looks to me like their overzealous digital security makes up for their lax physical security. Face it: Scott Air Force Base opened its gates to the public for an airshow during a Pentagon-declared threat of real terrorism. Blue-suiters regularly disconnect from the Internet as a precaution against cyber-terrorism, yet they won't cancel a Thunderbirds demo as a precaution against physical terrorism. What's wrong with this picture?

I suppose USAF will once again abdicate from the Internet on Code Red's upcoming trigger date (19 August at 8pm ET). "Peekaboo!" But don't worry: the airshows will go on without regard to the current THREATCON status.

(I drove to Scott AFB to watch the Thunderbirds perform their aerial acrobatics. You should've seen all the unattended ice chests & backpacks laying under the wings of a C-17 cargo plane and within a few yards of an F-117 stealth fighter. So many potential bomb containers! USAF ignores all sorts of THREATCON regulations for its beloved airshows, yet they treat the Code Red worm like a "Broken Arrow." Go figure. It'll probably take a USS Cole-like event before cross-eyed commanders visualize the real security issue. Heads will roll on that day — literally and figuratively — but we can take pride in the fact those airmen will die with a secure Internet connection at their fingertips.)

Let the record show: unbridled fear about Code Red crippled U.S. military websites. (Twice already!)

I SCOLD MY nephew when he flips light switches on & off, and I scold the world's most retreat-prone military every time they toggle their Internet connectivity as a precaution. I just wish I could slap the Pentagon's hand like I slap my nephew's.

I love the irony here. The most heavily armed force in the history of mankind hides from the Internet like a gullible toddler. "Peekaboo!"

How much longer must we put up with childish orders from the Defense Information Systems Agency? "Shut down the Internet! Okay, now it's safe again. No wait, it's dangerous! All right, turn the Internet back on again..." Our vaunted military should either (a) get over their agoraphobia or (b) paint a yellow stripe down their back. (I mean, it's not like we can't see the stripe already.)

Memo to DISA commander LtGen Gaduege:^[1] on or off, young man. Choose.