Navy and Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI) gets hacked
Nearly 550,000 Navy and Marine Corps Intranet users have gotten the orders to change their passwords following an unauthorized Oct. 20 “intrusion” into the system.
That’s right. NMCI got hacked.
“No personal or operational data was compromised in the intrusion,” said Lt. Cmdr. Ron Steiner, spokesman for the Naval Network Warfare Command in Norfolk, Va. “Changing passwords is just a normal, prudent step when you have an intrusion.”
Steiner could not comment on the exact location of the break-in, saying only that it came through a “legacy server.”
As various Navy networks make the transition to NMCI, he said, previously existing servers are routinely kept on local area networks for a time to allow file transfers. If not configured correctly, the older servers can be weak security links, he said. That appears to be the case with the recent hacking, he said. He downplayed the impact, likening it to a thief trying to break into a home through a partially unlocked gate.
