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DHS Blasts Unisys Over Chinese Hack
David Utter
Staff Writer
2007-09-24
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They have sent the FBI after Unisys to find out why a $1.7 billion contract to provide security for Department of Homeland Security computers failed to do so.
 | | DHS Blasts Unisys Over Chinese Hack |  |
Even better, Unisys has been accused of trying to cover up the problems that allowed parties traced to China to break in to some 150 computers operated by DHS. These cracks led to data being stolen from those machines.
The Washington Post suggested Unisys could be in deep trouble over not just the breach, but the apparent cover-up that followed:
As part of the contract, Unisys, based in Blue Bell, Pa., was to install network-intrusion detection devices on the unclassified computer systems for the TSA and DHS headquarters and monitor the networks. But according to evidence gathered by the House Homeland Security Committee, Unisys's failure to properly install and monitor the devices meant that DHS was not aware for at least three months of cyber-intrusions that began in June 2006.
The contractor also allegedly falsely certified that the network had been protected to cover up its lax oversight, according to the committee.
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) told the Post he wants punishment meted out to those responsible:
"For the hundreds of millions of dollars that have been spent on building this system within Homeland, we should demand accountability by the contractor," Thompson said in an interview. "If, in fact, fraud can be proven, those individuals guilty of it should be prosecuted."
In other news, who would have thought the federal government would spend that kind of money on a contract when it could have hired a bunch of security pros at a competitive rate to setup Snort on the DHS network?
We're inclined to think Unisys, and whoever in Congress or the Bush Administration brokered that fat deal, needs to spend several days in a windowless room explaining themselves at length to investigators.
UPDATE!: We heard from Unisys, and they have responded to the allegations made in a statement. Unisys said facts and documentation "contradict allegations" made by the Post about the DHS kerfuffle.
View All Articles by David Utter
About the Author:
David Utter is a business and technology writer for SecurityProNews and WebProNews.
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