Newly discovered hack has U.S. fearing foreign infiltration

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(CNN) Washington (CNN)A major breach at computer network company Juniper Networks has U.S. officials worried that hackers working for a foreign government were able to spy on the encrypted communications of the U.S. government and private companies for the past three years.

The FBI is investigating the breach, which involved hackers installing a back door on computer equipment, U.S. officials told CNN. Juniper disclosed the issue Thursday along with an emergency security patch that it urged customers to use to update their systems "with the highest priority."

The concern, U.S. officials said, is that sophisticated hackers who compromised the equipment could use their access to get into any company or government agency that used it.

One U.S. official described it as akin to "stealing a master key to get into any government building."

The breach is believed to be the work of a foreign government, U.S. officials said, because of the sophistication involved. The U.S. officials said they are certain U.S. spy agencies themselves aren't behind the back door. China and Russia are among the top suspected governments, though officials cautioned the investigation hasn't reached conclusions.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/18/politics/juniper-networks-us-government-security-hack/

And so it grows...

[PowerToThePeople]

1. How is that privatization paying off? n/t

[AZ Progressive]

2. Privatization of the government is one of the dumbest ideas being implemented

And is a result of our critically corrupt government.

[jmowreader]

3. Oh great. We have two of those switches, and they're pieces of shit

If your AC line voltage drops by more than five volts, the fucking switch WILL crash. Juniper switches have to load an operating system before they work (PLEASE tell me what the fuck is up with that!) so if the power jiggles your network will be down for three to five minutes.

Please, I implore you: If you are even slightly considering the purchase of a Juniper switch, add an Uninterruptible Power Supply to your equipment budget. These switches are unusable without one.

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5. The problem is that Juniper was one the few top-end switches in its time

Much like Cisco (almost said Costco! ) and there's a zillion of them installed.

[bigwillq]

4. That darn Sanders campaign.