Copyright Law

P2P Gets Banned in Antarctica

By soulxtc

United States Antarctic Program (USAP) employees told of threats to national security posed by accidentally putting sensitive data in a “shared folder.”

Dennis L Gitt, IT Director of the United States Antarctic Program (USAP), has warned employees stationed there about the dangers of file-sharing programs and to disable or uninstall them while on the USAP network.

It’s the inadvertent sharing of sensitive govt data that has him concerned, and for good reason.

Back in March it was reported that a US Defense contractor?s errant use of P2P program like Limewire had led to the disclosure of sensitive Marine One information, including ?entire blueprints, engineering upgrades, avionic schematics.’

A study by Zapshares Inc. also concluded that computer systems located in Iran, North Korea, China, and Russia are scouring P2P networks for classified information that could place our national security at risk.

Gitt also warned of the dangers posed by downloading malicious versions of file-sharing programs that contain keyloggers or other malicious software.

One USAP employee said that it was probably for the best, that surely there were some “too dumb” to properly configure a file-sharing program and keep their data safe.

?This is why we shouldn?t use P2P in Antarctica,? said a USAP employee to FreakBits. ?The gist I got from it was ?because you are all too dumb to use a computer correctly.? At least the plans for my secret uranium mine won?t leak out while I?m down here freezing my ass off.?

Congressman Edolphus Towns, Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has already proposed banning P2P programs like Limewire from govt PCs.

?For our sensitive government information, the risk is simply too great to ignore,? Rep Towns said earlier this month.

And he’s right.

At least Gitt understands this. Too bad more govt IT directors don’t move to ban P2P on govt networks and force employees to save file-sharing for when they get home.

Stay tuned.

jared@zeropaid.com

Full post as published by ZeroPaid on August 20, 2009 (boomark / email).