Revealed: Chinese Hackers Broke Into NASA & Controlled Jet Propulsion Lab
- Posted on March 2, 2012 at 10:07am by
Liz Klimas
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On Thursday, NASA’s inspector general released a report revealing that between 2010 and 2011, the agency had more than 5,000 computer security incidents. An ongoing investigation has revealed that one such attack was on its Jet Propulsion Lab by Chinese hackers, according to Fox News.
(Related: NASA laptop stolen with command codes that control space station)
Fox News has more on the lab attack, which it describes as a “jewel in NASA’s space technology crown:”
That report revealed scant details of an ongoing investigation into the incident against the Pasadena, Calif., lab, noting only that cyberattacks against the JPL involved Chinese-based Internet Protocol (IP) addresses.
Paul K. Martin, NASA’s inspector general, put his conclusions bluntly.
“The attackers had full functional control over these networks,” he wrote.
Aerial of JPL in Los Angeles. (Photo: NASA)
Martin has said that the cybersecurity incidents the agency has experiences from “foreign intelligence services seeking to further their countries’ objectives.” We have reported in the past that China has increased its space endeavors in the last decade, launching its Shenzhou 8 unmanned spacecraft in Nov. 2011. This spacecraft was to be the country’s first docking mission for creating its own space station.
NASA’s JPL develops robotic planetary spacecraft with some of its most recent missions including further development of the Mars Science Laboratory and sending the GRAIL spacecraft to study the moon. Here is a bit more on the missions it launched just last year:
Last year JPL launched four new missions – our new flagship rover mission, Mars Science Laboratory, as well as the Jupiter-bound Juno, the GRAIL twin spacecraft to Earth’s moon, and Aquarius to make global maps of salt across the surface of Earth’s ocean. The GRAIL spacecraft arrived at the moon just as 2012 was beginning, while Mars Science Laboratory will deliver its Curiosity rover to the Red Planet in August. The Dawn spacecraft, which since last summer has orbited the asteroid belt’s second largest object, the protoplanet Vesta, will depart in July on a two and a half year journey to the dwarf planet Ceres.
NASA's new Mars rover Curiosity. (Image: NASA/JPL)
(Related: ‘Go, go, go!’ NASA launches super-size Mars rover)
Fox reports that NASA would not comment on the hack of JPL because it is still an ongoing investigation, but it does note that NASA stated there was no threat to the laptop being stolen with command codes to the International Space Station while did not specifically state that no threat was made on JPL.
A NASA spokesperson has said that the agency has made improvements to its cybersecurity, and continues to do so, according to Fox. Still, the Office of Management and Budget states only 1 percent of NASA’s portable devices and laptops have been encrypted this year.
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Comments (51)
thomasb
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 4:50pmYeah…it‘s a good thing Obama let China build things for us and we’re sharing secrets with they and the Russians… Good move, idiot!
Report Post »ColoradoMaverick
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 3:51pmYet, Obama feels it necessary to spend him time golfing, campaigning and making phone calls to jezebells at Georgetown wanting free condoms.
Report Post »thegreatcarnac
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 2:27pmNow….NASA knows who ordered all of that chow mein for dinner Tuesday.
Report Post »BurntHills
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 2:16pmyes, NASA has a ***** in the technology.
Report Post »turkey13
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 2:49pmThe president is going to take over the internet for the whole world and run it thru a filter and these problems will go away!
Report Post »BurntHills
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 2:15pmdidn’t obama send the new communist NASA director out to all the muslim countries to give them all of our NASA codes anyway, communists= we share with our enemies! ………. no wonder the chinese got the codes, obama basically gave it to them.
Report Post »elosogrande
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 2:06pmFire every single person in every I.T. department, of every Federal Agency. Hire some Chinese I.T. wizards to build fire walls that work. I’m not tryinmg to be funny – clean house – no more incompetents.
Report Post »SweetDoug
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 1:00pmOut the filthy Chinese!
When they launch their spacecraft, the US should make a big stink and show how and what they stole from them!
Embarrass them! Shame them, publicly!
Get in the mud and start slinging, no turning the other cheek or taking the moral highground. This crap has got to stop.
This might explain why all those probes keep blowing up and getting lost, eh?
•∆•
Report Post »V-V
cemerius
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 11:23amHey now!! How else will the People’s Republic of China get to successfully launch operate and maintian their very own (soley owned) space station??? why should they have to steal it? Obama and Congress have already given these ChiComms the keys to the USA?!?!
Report Post »Marci
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 2:11pmGot that right Cemerius—and I especially love that NASA says one thing and backtracks and says another. The laptop was stolen that had command codes—but later….they were under no threat. What a bunch of B.S. Of course we have to realize the mission statement of NASA is no longer inclusive of space exploration and science–it is to highlight Muslim contributions.
Report Post »JP4JOY
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 11:20amAs much money as we owe the Chinese due to their treasury holdings this is probably just a colateralization of our debt. The egg-heads at NASA could definitely design firewalls and password encryption systems that are impervious to any assault, they are under instruction not to.
Report Post »Watchyer6
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 10:59amIt’s cyberwarfare, and it appears that we are losing the battle. Forget about carrier battle groups, combat brigades, and air wings. This is how the next war will be fought.
Report Post »AOL_REFUGEE
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 11:11amWhat’s the matter with these Chinese schmucks? Don’t they realized that this is no way to win friends and influence people?
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 10:51am.
Report Post »So would that be called a Ch ink in the Technology?……….
13th Imam
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 11:45amIt’s a slippery slope , descending into Communism
Report Post »nzkiwi
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 12:31pmThat’s very funny, Spank. Loved it.
Report Post »tomacz
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 10:46ammaybe we could arrange with the federal reserve to bait the chinese hackers, mass digitize,compress to the max every bugs bunny cartoon,marx brothers movie ever made,along with the lucy show,,like a bug mike that’s made to catch whispers
and screeches,frying the chinese circuits,,,just a thought,the world could use some comedy
heh heh
Report Post »tomacz
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 10:48amthought i’d reply to me
Report Post »our only other choice is to bombem I guess
I choose non violence
Popp40
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 10:43amOkay….when will people see that we are at War with China?
Report Post »midwesthippie
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 11:29am…we are at war with ourselves…
Report Post »Slowman101
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 10:41amAhhhhhhh, Houston, we have a problem here.
Report Post »lel2007
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 10:31amAs technology races forward security lags behind. This is not a good thing for obvious reasons.
Report Post »UBECKnSTAND
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 10:30amHow much did we borrow from China. It’s about time we start debiting them for all of the hacking. The loss of our intellectual assets far exceed what we owe them. STOP BUYING FROM THE ENEMY!
Report Post »canthaveitall
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 10:25ammost of the decisions this administration has made have not been good for us at all. they are meant to weaken us as a power in the world. this is the goal of this adminiistration. kind of scary. actually, very scary. God help us all.
Report Post »JohnnyMidknight
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 10:43amI am wondering if the laptop was “misplaced”. I mean Clinton sold the computers to run the data of nuclear technology.
http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/10/3/190315.shtml
Then there was the theft of the ballistic data
http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl/1999_3141372/china-steals-nuclear-secrets-to-this-very-day.html
Seeing as the Secretary of State is a Clinton… What is to think the same stuff is not happening today?
Report Post »justangry
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 10:23amHow long before our wise leaders just unplug their sensitive crap from the internet? I mean, really this is stupid.
Report Post »fuzzy20841
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 11:33amProblem is: There are few if any “wise leaders”!!
Report Post »MrMagoo
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 10:23amTrillions of dollars spent for stimulus squimulus and Obama slush funds,yet our cyber security is being breached on a regular basis.
Report Post »And with all this going on,contraception is all over the news.
MidWestMom
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 10:22amWith all the money the government spends you’d think they would pay for top-notch security programmers. Or at least employ people that are smart enough not to leave their laptops laying around.
Report Post »NSDQ
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 10:20amAnd Who Needs A Red Team?
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 10:18amLet‘s hope the Russians have better security since we’re paying them to take our astronauts up now.
Report Post »MidWestMom
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 10:26amThe Russians probably give their security passwords to the Chinese. How many punches do we have left on our russian bus pass?
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 11:06amThe Russians and Chinese don’t trust each other any more than we trust either of them. The border between the two countries is very cold war like.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 11:08amThey both act in the best interests of their own countries at all times. We should be more like them in that regard.
Report Post »MidWestMom
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 11:21amMy comment was basically sarcasm. Yes the Russians and the Chinese have a cold border but I still think they work together to some extent in matters involving the US.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 12:57pmRight you are Mom. Hate for America unites all kinds of otherwise hostile entities.
Report Post »HorseCrazy
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 10:18amwhen are we going to stop tip toeing around china? they aren’t our friends. when are we going to wake up whitehouse and get a back bone. No more money to china…yes even though we owe them trillions we are sending them aid, pump up the internet security for our important secure info so they don’t destroy us from within.
Report Post »MidWestMom
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 10:29amIf we break the rules we‘ll get sent to our rooms and we won’t get our allowance.
Report Post »SoupSandwich
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 11:14amWasn’t the decision made on high to emulate them? SInce when haven’t they reverse engineered all of our tech- Obama is doing the same politically. Situation is normal.
Report Post »angelcat
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 10:14amIt’s ok. If we apologize to them for something so they won’t do anything like that again.
Report Post »nonofmybiznez
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 10:13amThey are practicing a take over of our infrastructure and satellites.
Report Post »hidden_lion
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 10:41amA year or two ago they hacked into the FAA air traffic control system and also downloaded sensitive information on the F-35. And now NASA admits they were able to take control of the propulsion lab? What about the info concerning how to hack into public utilities that was posted not to long ago…
Report Post »This is called making dry runs.
Talk about fruit ripe for the picking. America is doomed.