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>These systems are commonly air-gapped Do you have direct experience? Because this is contradictory to my own experience. When I was in the Air Force we had

by nvy 3y ago

>These systems are commonly air-gapped Do you have direct experience? Because this is contradictory to my own experience. When I was in the Air Force we had access to various classified networks at levels up to and including TS. You often needed to be in a SCIF and/or have TEMPEST-rated equipment to log in, depending on the context, but the systems are networked nonetheless.

BobbyJo 3y ago
I worked in a SCIF for a short time for a defense contractor. It was a while ago, and I'm fuzzy about what I can and cannot say about how things worked in there, so I'd rather not say anything specific. What I can say is that it's trivial to keep things you don't want leaving a SCIF in the SCIF.
- LapsangGuzzler 3y ago
  I’m definitely not military, so I can’t speak from experience here. I just find it hard to believe that the military puts all of this information into decentralized air-gapped silos that are completely cut off from the outside world. Information isn’t useful when it can’t be searched, cross-referenced and analyzed. How does data enter a SCIF? because it obviously doesn’t originate there. Do people walk in with thumb drives and load it into a computer? That sounds like a security nightmare to me
  - BobbyJo 3y ago
    When I was there, it could only be brought in via read-only disc, and only via authorized parties. Any writable media was prohibited from entering as far as I was aware/concerned. We weren't generating information though, we were generating products. Products (physical or non-physical) get "used" as opposed to "searched".
- nvy 3y ago
  Fair enough. My experience is fairly recent but it might also be a military vs intelligence agency thing. All the classified/SCIF systems I used were networked, though the networks were physically segmented and most of the classified systems I used did not have internet access. Whether that counts as "air gapped" in your book I dunno, but I never came across anything like the room out of the original Mission Impossible film where the machine has no network access at all. In fact I question the utility of such a machine.
  - BobbyJo 3y ago
    Air-gapped just means physical segmentation (as far as I'm aware). So you can consider the networks you're talking about to be air-gapped as well. Seems like the network I worked on was more isolated that what you're describing. I worked with a TS/SCI clearance though, and I know there are varying degrees of "C".

by nvy 3y ago

BobbyJo 3y ago

I worked in a SCIF for a short time for a defense contractor. It was a while ago, and I'm fuzzy about what I can and cannot say about how things worked in there, so I'd rather not say anything specific. What I can say is that it's trivial to keep things you don't want leaving a SCIF in the SCIF.

LapsangGuzzler 3y ago
I’m definitely not military, so I can’t speak from experience here. I just find it hard to believe that the military puts all of this information into decentralized air-gapped silos that are completely cut off from the outside world. Information isn’t useful when it can’t be searched, cross-referenced and analyzed. How does data enter a SCIF? because it obviously doesn’t originate there. Do people walk in with thumb drives and load it into a computer? That sounds like a security nightmare to me
- BobbyJo 3y ago
  When I was there, it could only be brought in via read-only disc, and only via authorized parties. Any writable media was prohibited from entering as far as I was aware/concerned. We weren't generating information though, we were generating products. Products (physical or non-physical) get "used" as opposed to "searched".
nvy 3y ago
Fair enough. My experience is fairly recent but it might also be a military vs intelligence agency thing. All the classified/SCIF systems I used were networked, though the networks were physically segmented and most of the classified systems I used did not have internet access. Whether that counts as "air gapped" in your book I dunno, but I never came across anything like the room out of the original Mission Impossible film where the machine has no network access at all. In fact I question the utility of such a machine.
- BobbyJo 3y ago
  Air-gapped just means physical segmentation (as far as I'm aware). So you can consider the networks you're talking about to be air-gapped as well. Seems like the network I worked on was more isolated that what you're describing. I worked with a TS/SCI clearance though, and I know there are varying degrees of "C".