https://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-biowatch-20190402-story.html
By Emily Baumgaertner
Staff Writer
Los Angeles Times
August 25, 2019
The Department of Homeland Security stored sensitive data from the nation’s
bioterrorism defense program on an insecure website where it was vulnerable to
attacks by hackers for over a decade, according to government documents
reviewed by The Times.
The data included the locations of at least some BioWatch air samplers, which
are installed at subway stations and other public locations in more than 30
U.S. cities and are designed to detect anthrax or other airborne biological
weapons, Homeland Security officials confirmed. It also included the results of
tests for possible pathogens, a list of biological agents that could be
detected and response plans that would be put in place in the event of an
attack.
The information — housed on a dot-org website run by a private contractor — has
been moved behind a secure federal government firewall, and the website was
shut down in May. But Homeland Security officials acknowledge they do not know
whether hackers ever gained access to the data.
Internal Homeland Security emails and other documents show the issue set off a
bitter clash within the department over whether keeping the information on the
dot-org website posed a threat to national security. A former BioWatch security
manager filed a whistleblower complaint alleging he was targeted for
retaliation after criticizing the program’s lax security.
[...]
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