Solar observatory closed for some kind of "security issue"

On Monday, September 17, 2018 at 3:34:33 PM UTC-5, RichA wrote:
According to u.s. intelligence, China, the liberal's new darling is the major hacker threat to he u.s and not Russia.

The Chinese would do a better job at hackingthan the Russians.

And no, China is not a liberal darling. Someone has been spending too much time on Brietbart.

On Saturday, September 15, 2018 at 10:48:32 PM UTC-6, Chris L Peterson wrote:

Might be related to some cyber security issue. A lot of observatories
like this are on a dedicated, very high speed subnet of the broader
Internet. Maybe somebody used it inappropriately.

Now, that's a possibility I didn't think of: it is a purely civilian scientific
installation, and so it would be less security-conscious, but as it would share
access to the high-speed backbone the Government uses for various things,
including military users, it might be a good location for a spy - or, given no
arrests have resulted yet, also a target for a hacker.

And I suppose that the place would be down if extensive computer forensics were
required - shutting down the facility because of hacking would normally be
unlikely, which was why I doubted that scenario.

John Savard

On Monday, September 17, 2018 at 1:10:17 PM UTC-6, Davoud wrote:

"AURA has been cooperating with an on-going law enforcement
investigation of criminal activity that occurred at Sacramento Peak.
During this time, we became concerned that a suspect in the
investigation potentially posed a threat to the safety of local staff
and residents. For this reason, AURA temporarily vacated the facility
and ceased science activities at this location."

So the police thought a dangerous criminal was hiding in the bushes around the
facility?

I guess that can happen to anyone.

John Savard

On Monday, September 17, 2018 at 7:03:33 PM UTC-6, Quadibloc wrote:
On Monday, September 17, 2018 at 1:10:17 PM UTC-6, Davoud wrote:

"AURA has been cooperating with an on-going law enforcement
investigation of criminal activity that occurred at Sacramento Peak.
During this time, we became concerned that a suspect in the
investigation potentially posed a threat to the safety of local staff
and residents. For this reason, AURA temporarily vacated the facility
and ceased science activities at this location."

So the police thought a dangerous criminal was hiding in the bushes around the
facility?

I guess that can happen to anyone.

But in a situation like that, there would have been no mystery, because
residents in the area would also have been advised to stay indoors, so there
would have been a blaze of publicity, I would have thought.

Of course, the observatory may be in an isolated rural area.

John Savard

On Monday, September 17, 2018 at 7:03:33 PM UTC-6, Quadibloc wrote:
On Monday, September 17, 2018 at 1:10:17 PM UTC-6, Davoud wrote:

"AURA has been cooperating with an on-going law enforcement
investigation of criminal activity that occurred at Sacramento Peak.
During this time, we became concerned that a suspect in the
investigation potentially posed a threat to the safety of local staff
and residents. For this reason, AURA temporarily vacated the facility
and ceased science activities at this location."

So the police thought a dangerous criminal was hiding in the bushes around the
facility?

I guess that can happen to anyone.

The details have now come out:

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/0...servatory_fbi/

John Savard