Juniper breach mystery starts to clear with new details on hackers and U.S. role (bloomberg.com)

Article summary

The article discusses a breach at Juniper where a foreign adversary hacked into the company and changed the backdoor key in an algorithm that was previously backdoored by the NSA. The breach is considered surreal by some, but others see it as an expected outcome of introducing vulnerabilities into a system. The incident has raised questions about the culpability of Juniper and the role of the US government in the breach. The breach was reportedly done by modifying the constant used in the code before the binary was built, allowing the attackers to remain undetected for a long time.

Main themes

• NSA backdooring
• Juniper breach
• supply-chain attack
• national security vs customer safety
• backdoor risks
• corporate culpability

What commenters say

• Introducing vulnerabilities into a system is a recipe for disaster and can lead to unforeseen consequences.
• The NSA's actions in backdooring the algorithm are seen as a major factor in the breach, but some argue that Juniper's decision to use the algorithm was also a critical mistake.
• The breach highlights the risks of supply-chain attacks and the importance of securing the software development process.
• Some commenters argue that the breach was not just a technical failure, but also a result of a flawed mindset that prioritizes national security over customer safety.
• Others believe that the breach was inevitable and that backdoors are inherently flawed and should not be used.
• There is disagreement about the extent to which Juniper was coerced into using the backdoored algorithm, with some arguing that the company made a deliberate decision to prioritize profits over customer safety.
• The incident has also raised questions about the potential for insider involvement in the breach and the extent to which the US government's actions may have contributed to the vulnerability of the system.