ATC Systems "Hack-able" ??

"Jay Beckman" wrote in message
news:8_h_e.287791$E95.24405@fed1read01...
From MSNBC.com...

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9503338/



I'm betting that pretty much anything is hackable... by somebody..., and if
not today, then tomorrow, and if not tomorrow, then next week, month, or
year.

And it depends a little on your definition of "hacking". Some hacks are
easier than others, I would think.

Is it:

Looking?
Destroying?
Modifying?
Denying access?
Slowing access and/or operation?

Any of the above for the operation (the programs, the "executable").

Then repeat all of the above again, for the data, and repeat once more for
the hardware and infrastructure.


There are probably very few systems in the world about which you could not
say that they "lack important controls".

It may mean a little as finding an entry-level programmer's password easy to
crack. Or it could mean that the door to the computer room didn't lock
properly once.

Or...it could mean that a teenager in GoHackStan can shut down the whole
system with nothing more than a dialup modem and a 1982 Commodore.

It could also mean that a legitimate employee takes copies of the source
code home on the bus. Not that long ago we exalted such people because they
were "dedicated". Today we revile them because they are security risks.