Hasta La Gadget!

Many of the Pentagon’s most advanced weapon systems — including the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and PAC-3 Patriot missile system — were compromised by Chinese hackers, according to a classified document obtained by the Washington Post. The list of weapons was part of an earlier DoD report condemning Chinese cyber-espionage activities, but had been confidential until now. Other systems hacked are said to include the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), the Navy’s Aegis ballistic-missile defense system, the F/A-18 fighter, V-22 Osprey and the Littoral Combat Ship used for shore patrol. Many of these form the foundation of defense systems from Europe to the Persian Gulf — and their breach goes a long way toward explaining Washington’s unprecedented dressing-down of China.

Filed under: Misc

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Via: The Verge

Source: Washington Post

The Defense Department has officially given the thumbs up to Apple devices running iOS 6 — paving the way for iPhones and iPads to become standard issue around the Pentagon. The move was hardly shocking. In fact, the Wall Street Journal had it on good authority weeks ago that the DoD was planning to give iOS its seal of approval. With Samsung devices running the Knox security suite and BlackBerry 10 already trickling into the hands of Pentagon employees, the decision sets the stage for a three-way bout for military market supremacy. And we’re sure the government drones can’t pick sides fast enough. After all, who wants to live under the tyranny of BlackBerry 7 any longer than necessary?

Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Apple

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Source: Bloomberg

It was a couple of days ago when we brought you word that the Pentagon is mulling over the suitability of using both Apple as well as Samsung devices in their hallowed hallways, and here we are with word that the Pentagon has just approved the use of BlackBerry and Samsung devices on their Defense Department networks. The approved devices would be BlackBerry 10 smartphones (did you expect anything less?), BlackBerry PlayBook tablets that run on the Enterprise Service 10 system and Samsung’s Android Knox.

As for those who prefer to jive with Apple, it seems that you will have to wait until later this May for the Pentagon to clear iOS 6-powered devices. According to Pentagon spokesman Lt Col Damien Pickart, he mentioned that “this is a significant step towards establishing a multi-vendor environment that supports a variety of state-of-the-art devices and operating systems.” Of course, having said that, the approval of BlackBerry and Samsung devices does not mean that they will be placing product orders anytime soon, but rather, user groups within the Pentagon are able to pick and choose from a pre-determined lot. Which device do you think would have the most users?

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Our armed forces began embracing Android and iOS some time ago, and now it appears that the US Department of Defense is finally jumping on the bandwagon, too. The Wall Street Journal reports that the DoD will be announcing security approvals for Samsung Galaxy handsets, iPhones and iPads in the next couple weeks — allowing them to join BlackBerry in the government’s secure smartphone stable. Apparently, Samsung’s approval was facilitated by its Knox security platform, which has been deemed secure enough to allow it to be used to send and receive internal emails, and Apple devices running iOS 6 and up are also expected to get the go-ahead for nonclassified communications. So, people of the Pentagon, it looks like it’s only a matter of time before you can put down your BB7 handset and pick up a smartphone with a more modern OS.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

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Source: Wall Street Journal

Most of us are content keeping hackers away with a firewall and decent password. But the Pentagon isn’t nearly content, and in a new report, insists we should keep our nuclear arsenal ready for Internet retaliation. What could go wrong? More »