US military personnel have been uploading nuclear secrets to online learning platforms, where they can be found by anyone. Free flashcard apps such as Chegg, Quizlet, and Cram have hosted the scarily detailed secret data for as long as eight years—possibly longer.
Open-source intelligence researchers discovered the careless whispers from a simple Google search. You might not be responsible for nuclear weapons, but you can still learn lessons about protecting your organization’s secrets.
Rote learning is bad enough without suffering fallout from information leakage. In this week’s Security Blogwatch, we file our cards away securely.
Your humble blogwatcher curated these bloggy bits for your entertainment. Not to mention: Toxic Town.
Monkey see, monkey do
What’s the craic? Foeke Postma reports that military personnel Expose Nuclear Weapons Secrets Via Flashcard Apps:
Wow, SRSLY? Matthew Gault has more bad news for the DoD—U.S. Military Personnel Spilled Nuclear Secrets in Online Flashcards:
What lessons can we learn? Gareth Corfield concludes—Leaked data proves very educational:
You’d think that would be standard OPSEC. morpheuskafka agrees:
Instead, the secrets are hiding in plain sight. ShanghaiBill channels Churchill:
But doesn’t the DoD have its own learning platforms? Yes, but angry_octet has bad news:
Ouch. How can the problem be fixed? This Anonymous Coward advises thuswise:
But 1MachineElf thinks that sounds disastrous:
Meanwhile, are you feeling what geekmux is feeling?
The moral of the story?
What secrets might your organization be leaking via free apps? Is there a red-team opportunity here?
And finally
It shouldn’t work, but somehow it does—gloriously
Previously in “And finally”
You have been reading Security Blogwatch by Richi Jennings. Richi curates the best bloggy bits, finest forums, and weirdest websites … so you don’t have to. Hate mail may be directed to @RiCHi or sbw@richi.uk. Ask your doctor before reading. Your mileage may vary. E&OE. 30.
This week’s zomgsauce: Lisa Jasmin Adams (via Pixabay)
