Jump to content

Pentagon Still Running Windows 95 and 98 on Critical Systems


CrAKeN

Recommended Posts

pentagon-still-running-windows-95-and-98

 

Windows 95 still powering Pentagon PCs

 

The United States Department of Defense is now migrating to Windows 10 as part of a broader effort announced in collaboration with Microsoft, and the transition to the new operating system is projected to be finalized in the fall of this year.

 

In the meantime, however, there are lots of computers operated by the Pentagon that are still running older Windows versions, and according to officials, some are even powered by Windows 95 or 98.

 

Speaking about Pentagon’s efforts to boost security of its systems, Daryl Haegley, program manager for the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations and Environment, has revealed that many of the critical computers are currently powered by unsupported Windows versions, including not only Windows XP (which is no longer getting updates since April 2014) but also releases that are more than 20 years old.

 

“About 75 percent of the devices that are control systems are on Windows XP or other nonsupported operating systems,” he said, adding that these stats were collected after visits to different 15 military sites.

 

Don’t worry, be happy


Haegley says there’s no reason to worry, though, adding that all these computers do not have an Internet connection, so they are harder to hack. This isn’t impossible, though, especially if these systems are part of larger networks where other computers are connected to the web.

 

“A lot of these systems are still Windows 95 or 98, and that’s OK—if they’re not connected to the internet,” Haegley explained.

 

DefenseOne says that systems running Windows 95 or 98 feature sensors that connect to the Internet anyway, so they’re more or less vulnerable to attacks, and running old operating systems certainly doesn’t help.

 

In the end, Haegley calls for the US DoD to expand its bug bounty programs and call for security researchers to look for vulnerabilities not only in its websites but also in critical systems that could be exposed to cyberattacks launched by other states.

 

Source

Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • Replies 12
  • Views 912
  • Created
  • Last Reply
17 hours ago, CrAKeN said:

In the meantime, however, there are lots of computers operated by the Pentagon that are still running older Windows versions, and according to officials, some are even powered by Windows 95 or 98.

 

OK, you still can run Windows 9x on some old computers but it must be painful to use them; they should have some really old printers because those more recent models don't have the drivers for 9X. You should have a stock of those old printers to replace the damaged because by now the repair kits are not available. Should use some old CRT monitors or have a really poor display using a 9X generic driver for LCD.  Probably should need really few storing space because of limited capacity of 9X compatible computers to manage hard drives. Should live without USB. Even if  Windows 98 SE was supposed to support USB and those older USB stics came with a setup CD for 98 SE, I never could install it and it never recognized the USB card installed.

 

It's not easy working in LoTech!

Link to comment
Share on other sites


3 hours ago, BioHazard said:

why that doesn't surprise me 

 it's not like they  have too worry about the US government hacking them because they are the Government  , I have a old windows 95 PC upgraded to Windows 98 packed away  I got on the internet with it before  back when i was still on dailup and my main system blew  while waiting  on a new one .  Even back then  it was hard too find apps for it I had get them from old apps site. So now I collect PCs so i don't never have too do that again it's no fun . I did not get  on the internet tell 2001 so my 1st PC was Windows ME  and Windows 98 se is much better than that one was . I sold my Windows ME PC  too a sucker and bought a new Dell with XP in 2001 lol.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


they should just give the Russians a desk with full unfettered access,,, after all, hey are already in there deep as it is....maybe the Russian guy on the desk can fix the leaks for them

Link to comment
Share on other sites


4 hours ago, dMog said:

they should just give the Russians a desk with full unfettered access,,, after all, hey are already in there deep as it is....maybe the Russian guy on the desk can fix the leaks for them

This news is nothing new I seen it posted many times so it should not be a shocker just rehash posted  over and over every year. you thank that's scary they have Nukes controlled on PCs from the 60s and 70s . There switching all of this over now too windows 10  pcs.

 

The Pentagon to Upgrade its 4 Million PCs to Windows 10

http://www.eteknix.com/pentagon-upgrade-4-million-pcs-windows-10/

The Pentagon Plans to Finally Upgrade From Floppy Disk Technology

http://mentalfloss.com/article/80649/pentagon-plans-finally-upgrade-floppy-disk-technology

U.S. is still using floppy disks to run its nuclear program

http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/26/us/pentagon-floppy-disks-nuclear/

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites


2 hours ago, steven36 said:

There switching all of this over now too windows 10  pcs.

 

That is not true, but Microsoft can put out whatever they want to.  Just because a PC operating system is unsupported doesn't mean it can't be secure.  People continue to confuse the two, thanks a lot to Microsoft who continue to proclaim it be true.  Heck even Windows 7, 8.1, and 10 are not secure and they are supported and updated regularly.  So, other than Microsoft's bleats, what is the difference.  None.  If  you know security and you know your systems, then you can secure any operating system by blocking access to ports, files, IPs, etc.  It isn't rocket science.  A lot of robots  used in manufacturing run off Windows 98 systems.  A lot of scientific equipment run off Windows 98 systems.  A lot of the hardware requires a PCMCIA card slot and only has drivers for Windows 98.  I could go on and on about systems that only use old versions of Windows, whether Microsoft likes it or not.  And that doesn't mean the systems are slow or outdated, it just means that they still work and perform the functions they were designed to perform, and in many cases, functions that more modern systems cannot do.  My friends in the Pentagon roll their eyes every time they see an article saying they are going to Windows 10.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


40 minutes ago, straycat19 said:

 

That is not true

 

Just because Microsoft make one kind of copy of windows 10 for the consumer don't mean the Government copies are the samething lol

 

 

Windows solutions for Government

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsforbusiness/industry-government

And yes it is true there upgrading too Windows 10 because Terry Halvorsen, the Pentagon’s  former chief information officer.said they was.

http://1yxsm73j7aop3quc9y5ifaw3.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/121815_dod_windows10_memo.pdf

Pentagon plans huge, swift upgrade to Windows 10

http://www.seattletimes.com/business/microsoft/pentagon-plans-huge-swift-upgrade-to-windows-10/

You think Microsoft make Windows solutions for Government for shits and giggles? No there getting  richer from it.  The government is paying billions of dollars over the next few years to upgrade there computers so they don't be left  in the dark ages.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites


 

Quote

 

What Will Be the Top IT Priorities of the Next DOD CIO?


The Pentagon’s next IT chief will need to deal with data center consolidation, a new cybersecurity architecture and potentially reforming DISA.


Former Defense Department CIO Terry Halvorsen may have a new gig with Samsung, but his replacement hasn’t been named.


Halvorsen stepped down in late February after 37 years in government, and John Zangardi, the Pentagon’s principal deputy CIO, has been filling in since. Yet the Trump administration has not yet named a replacement for Halvorsen.


When it does, that person is going to confront a maze of IT challenges at the DOD, not least because of the administration’s emphasis on cybersecurity. What will be among the tech issues Halvorsen’s successor will need to confront?


One is the successful implementation of key components of the Joint Information Environment (JIE), the major undertaking the Pentagon announced in 2010 to consolidate the department’s IT infrastructure and secure it more effectively.


Another is the ongoing effort to consolidate the data centers of the DOD and the armed forces. The next CIO may also need to consider changes to the structure of the Defense Information Systems Agency, the DOD’s joint IT provider.


The Pentagon will also need to keep the ball moving forward on its shift to Microsoft’s Windows 10. The department plans to move up to 4 million devices to Windows 10, and Halvorsen had set a deadline of January 2017 (which he acknowledged last year the DOD would not meet). DOD spokesperson Lt. Col. James Brindle told FCW earlier this month that the Pentagon has only migrated 200,000 devices to Windows 10 so far, and that number is expected to double in the coming months.
Getting the Joint Regional Security Stacks Right

One big item waiting in the next DOD CIO’s inbox will be continued migration to the JIE. Halvorsen, who drafted the department’s JIE strategy document in August 2016, told FCW recently that he expects DOD’s commitment to the transition will continue.


“I don’t think that will change,” he said, though he noted it is sometimes difficult to get Pentagon officials to realize the JIE is a vision to strive toward and not a program with strict requirements. “If you try to get too specific on the JIE vision, you end up being wrong,” he said.


A key component of the JIE is the joint regional security stacks (JRSS). Through JRSS, DISA is partnering with the Army and Air Force to change the way the DOD secures and protects its information networks. JRSS is a suite of equipment that performs firewall functions, intrusion detection and prevention, enterprise management, virtual routing and forwarding, and provides a host of network security capabilities.


“I think [Halvorsen has] done a very nice job of coalescing the services around a shared vision for our infrastructure — not that we’ve made all of the progress that we need to make,” Air Force CIO Lt. Gen. Bill Bender told FCW. “But I think that the JRSS and the technical solutions that are in the works are [going] in the right direction. I think the services are all lined up to support it and that we’re on a good glide path.”


However, as Federal News Radio reports, a provision in the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act blocks the DOD “from declaring full operational capability” on any of the 12 JRSS that are planned for deployment around the globe “over concerns that Pentagon IT leaders haven’t done enough to demonstrate that the $1.6 billion system is effective.”

Federal News Radio reports:

    The bill orders the department to conduct a formal operational test and evaluation (OT&E) process to ‘determine the effectiveness, suitability, and survivability’ of JRSS and places limitations on its full deployment until DOD does so, although Pentagon leaders would be able to sidestep the OT&E requirement if they can certify that the system is vital to national security and can show Congress other evidence that the system works as intended.

The Army and Air Force have started to use the “stacks” of commercial off-the-shelf network appliances and other monitoring tools to protect their bases in the southeastern U.S., and deployments are well underway in Europe and the Middle East, Federal News Radio reports. The Army plans to move its networks to JRSS installations over the coming year, followed by the Air Force. The Navy and Marine Corps are expected to start moving their large, existing enterprise networks to a “2.0” version of JRSS in 2018.
Shuttering Data Centers

Data center consolidation is also a huge issue for DOD and one Halvorsen acknowledges he did not make enough progress on. The Pentagon has thousands of data centers, and it aims to shutter many of them.


When speaking to reporters in January before leaving government, he said, according to Fedscoop, “It’s the one area that if you asked me where I give myself the lowest mark, not the team but myself, because in the end it’s my responsibility, is data centers.” “We did not get as many closed as I would have liked to get closed,” Halvorsen said of data centers, but he did note that the Pentagon made some progress.


Figuring out how to handle the data center closures will also be a challenge. “How do we partner with industry so when we consolidate these data centers, the full impact of what you might see if you immediately close the data center — there are lots of impacts to the workforce and to the surrounding communities — so how do we reach the savings we want while minimizing some of the impacts,” Halvorsen said in March, according to Federal News Radio.


The DOD has been making some progress on shuttering data centers. Halvorsen’s August 2016 plan called for the creation of a team to identify and recommend closures of the costliest and least efficient facilities beginning in the first quarter of fiscal year 2017. That worked started last fall, as FedScoop reported.


And before leaving office earlier this year, the former secretary of the Army, Eric Fanning, issued an 88-page directive designed to spur further data center consolidation after the Army fell behind on its goals. The directive lays out detailed orders to three- and four-star generals in the Army’s headquarters and functional and geographic commands, telling them precisely what must be done to close 60 percent of the service’s 1,200 data centers by the end of 2018 and 75 percent by 2025.
Partnering With Industry

Bender told FCW the CIO will also need to tackle reforming DISA to bring it in line with industry standards.

“By going joint, [DOD is] increasingly reliant on DISA infrastructure,” he said. “So the journey to the cloud goes through a DISA-provided cloud access point. They need to deliver at the need for speed.”

Furthermore, Bender said that “the DOD CIO should continue to focus on moving the DOD toward utilizing the commercial sector for enterprise IT, with DISA focusing on standards and oversight, not on contracting, which has been a DISA weakness.”


Halvorsen said DOD must continue to embrace commercial technology, which can be more efficient than building an in-house solution. He added that the U.S. is entering the “platinum age” of technology and sophisticated commercial solutions are being introduced that can transform the way DOD operates.


Bender and former DOD CIO Teri Takai told FCW that DOD needs to strengthen its ties with industry — not only to cut costs but also to decrease the department’s cybersecurity footprint.

However, Takai said DOD must improve its internal capacity to understand the market and be a better purchaser of IT. “While DOD is going to want to do more with their vendors, they’re also going to have to develop some in-house expertise that they’ve to some extent let atrophy by letting the vendor community do so much,” she added.

 

 

http://www.fedtechmagazine.com/article/2017/04/what-will-be-top-it-priorities-next-dod-cio

Even the person who was over the Pentagon’s IT department left for a better paying job after 37 years of working with the government   that's bad  and shows how easy it is for a teach to get a better paying non government  job.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • 10 months later...

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...