Hacker Heaven

Good Morning, Breakfastpoppers. Today is Wednesday, June 17, 2015. Our pious friend, Mantis Manny, is cooking breakfast for us this morning. He is preparing enough scrambled eggs and bacon to feed an army. I will be providing Bloody Marys, virgin or otherwise, to complete the meal. Manny is very concerned about the increasing occurrence of hacking in our nation. Our personal information is there for the taking and something has to be done about it. Please join us for breakfast. We are anxiously awaiting your arrival.

Thank you all for joining me this morning. By now I am sure you are all aware of the fact that hackers tied to China have successfully acquired all the sensitive background information submitted by our intelligence and military personnel for security clearances. The forms that were stolen are called Standard Form 86. Applicants are required to fill out extremely personal information. The forms ask about mental health issues, alcohol use, drug use, arrests and bankruptcies and, of course, social security numbers. All contacts and relatives must be written down as well. Now all this highly personal information is in the hands of the bad guys. Make no mistake about it, China is the culprit. The information leaves U.S. intelligence employees in a very compromised and vulnerable position. They and their friends and families can be subjected to blackmail and coercion. The Chinese now possess the identity of every single person who has a U.S. security clearance. How will it be possible for our intelligence offers to operate if their identities are known?

The White House didn't have much to say about the hack. At first they spoke about the hack of federal personnel data which compromised the personal information of millions of current and former civilian federal employees. Their first mention of the breach minimized the number of people affected. The full scope of the hack was revealed later. Hackers stole social security numbers, military records, veteran's information, addresses, health insurance, job and pay info, life insurance and pension information. The information is there and has been there for the taking. Shame on us. This breach and others never should have happened. We have been asleep at the switch for years and years.

China now has the ability to launch a major spear-phising attack. Spear-Phasing is a technique which hackers employ to send emails that look completely legitimate so that users open them enabling the hacker to load spyware onto their networks. We are in deep trouble. The question remains, why are we so unprepared for attacks like this? Where are the experts who can access our vulnerability and get things moving in the right direction? Congress needs to step up to the plate and change laws that currently make private companies reluctant to work for the federal government. How is it possible that we have been so complacent all these years?

Now that China has all this sensitive information, what does President Obama plan to do about it? Surely, we are not going to let the Chinese walk away from this theft? Perhaps President Obama should leave global warming to Mother Nature and take on the real threat in front of all of us. A foreign government has complete access to our personal information. China has the ability to ruin all of our lives. We need to respond in kind and we need to do it soon. In the meantime, we had better get a grip on cyberspace, before it buries all of us. This is, no doubt, just the tip of a massive iceberg.

Manny's Song

The moment I wake up

Before I stretch my wings

I say a little prayer for you...