The "I was hacked" defense worked again!

[Gary Stoneburner <gary.stoneburner@nist.gov>]

re:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/981726.asp?0dm=C15PT

"A British court cleared a teenager Friday of hacking into the
computer of the U.S. port of Houston ..."

"Caffrey had insisted that, although the infiltration was triggered
from his computer, he was not behind it. He testified as an expert in his
own defense, arguing that a hacker could have taken over his machine to
mount the attack."

This is the 2nd time I am aware of the "I may have been hacked"
defense being successful.

If you are expecting your organizational security controls to be
effective in constraining the malicious efforts of a computer savvy
employee - well perhaps you should think again :-).

Cheers,
Gary

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* Opinions expressed are not intended to reflect an official position
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* Gary Stoneburner
* Computer Security Division, National Institute of Standards & Technology
* 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 8930, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8930         
* Phone: 301-975-5394, FAX: 301-948-0279, Email: Stoneburner@nist.gov
* http://csrc.nist.gov/staff/stoneburner/gshome.html
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