Comment by kodah | Hacker News Reader

Comment by kodah | Hacker News Reader

I have never worked on Capitol Hill but I'm going to go ahead and say this is misinformation. I did work for the DOD, and arguably the DOD does not have access to nearly as sensitive information as the State Department or at times Congress. The most basic procedures for classified information require that it be stored behind locked metal cages, in bank-style vaults, with encrypted hard drives, accessed via SMART cards, and transferred via an armed escort. When I left for Afghanistan there was one person carrying Top Secret information and the case it was carried in was handcuffed to him, not only was he armed but he had an armed escort as well.

The notion or idea that some Congressperson has Classified+ information sitting behind a wood or glass door sounds highly suspicious.

Edit: changed "fake news" to "misinformation"

No need for using the term "fake news". Noone posted any news, nor are they fake.

It's not about possible access of classified information, but the now unknown state of the devices and systems.

Physical barriers, like a guarded entry, produce a zone of trust. People are searched for weapons on entries to somewhat guarantee that no weapons are inside. Once the entry is un-guarded, the trust level is 0% and needs to rebuild.

There's a notion being presented that having access to physical offices is somehow tantamount to having access to a SCIF. That is the misinformation/hyperbole/fake news part. If you post on Twitter and your tweet goes viral, it is now news.

Those networks will assuredly have to be rebuilt from the ground up. He's definitely right on a number of things but fueling speculation like this, especially when it's already been acknowledged the SCIFs were not breached, is equally dangerous.

This stuff is a matter of open record: https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/23/politics/what-is-a-scif/index...

Indeed. I find myself particularly annoyed at this instance of Monday morning quarterbacking about infosec at a public building. People here are talking like somehow these systems would have access to launch codes or something. There is a general unwillingness to give the benefit of the doubt that the people in charge of infosec here may have actually thought through their decisions.

In my disgust, I admit to wishing that these people are someday judged by random internet know-nothings for their own decisions in turn.

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