IT Contractors That Let Russians Write Military Code Will Pay $12.7 Million

[LiberalArkie]

Not that you need another reminder that government cybersecurity is screwed, but here we are: After a four-year federal probe, contractors will pay a combined $12.75 million in civil penalties to settle a suit alleging that they let Russian programmers write military code.

This includes code used for the Defense Information Systems Agency, the Department of Defense agency that serves as the DoD’s joint operational arm of defensive cyberspace operations. Imagine hiring Tonya Harding as an armed guard for Nancy Kerrigan. That situation is about as stupid as what these contractors were accused of doing.

John C. Kingsley used to work for Netcracker Technology before he filed a 2011 complaint against his employer and Computer Sciences Corporation, the company that subcontracted Netcracker to do work for DISA. In the recently unsealed complaint, he alleges that Netcracker used Russian programmers who were far cheaper than their clearance-holding US counterparts.

It gets worse. Kingsley alleges that Netcracker gave DISA code that was “not checked for back doors, time bombs or other hidden and malicious triggers by US citizens with the proper security clearances before it was placed on DISA’s networks.”




http://gizmodo.com/it-contractors-who-let-russians-write-military-code-wil-1740830362

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. Thank goodness we use private contractors, cause government employees are so horrible.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

2. I don't agree that government workers are horrible

But it's been my personal experience in the military and federal government that contractors, on the whole, are more reliable and work harder than their federal government equivalents. Contractors realize that they can be removed from a contract very easily for non/poor performance, whereas it's next to impossible to remove a federal employee.

That being said, it's incredibly stupid, bordering on criminal, to allow Russian programmers write code for DoD systems.

[denverbill]

3. Fines, not jail? Oh of course, these are corporate crooks, not ordinary people.