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One place I worked had these US government customers, that were so "hush-hush" we weren't allowed to know what their names actually were (obviously some sort of
by skissane 3y ago
One place I worked had these US government customers, that were so "hush-hush" we weren't allowed to know what their names actually were (obviously some sort of intelligence agency or military project–although we had other customers of that nature where we were allowed to know their names). They were just "US Government A", "US Government B", etc. I personally never had anything to do with any of them, but a colleague in Support got a ticket from one of them once. He wanted to call the customer, but couldn't find their phone number in the support system. So he updated the support ticket to ask for a contact number, and was told "we aren't allowed to tell you our phone number; you tell us your desk phone number and we'll call you". (Support engineers weren't supposed to give customers their desk phone numbers, but my colleague understood that this kind of super-special customer was an unwritten exception to that rule.) Literally a secret government telephone number?
- samstave 3y agoYou may love the movie "the night agent" Basically one of these secret numbers and how used, fictional but still a good movie - I just recalled a memory from when I was nine years old: My dad was friends with the Secretary of energy, and I recall we had some pen or stationary or such... And (1983) [EDIT: it was 83 because war games] these had the phone number to the white house on them... So, as a typical latch-key 80s kid with nothing to do in the summer while parents are working and I'm home alone, I called the White House several times asking to speak to the President. I didnt get through... and that summer I went to see the release of WAR GAMES. Man Phreaking had never been sexier... hello 2600!
- polytely 3y agomaybe some type of Continuity of Operations stuff?
- skissane 3y agoI have absolutely no idea what any of it was, but sometimes the most boring things can be the most extremely sensitive. For example, you can’t get much more boring than a payroll system. Now consider the fact that the CIA must have a payroll system. Its payroll system would be just as boring as anybody else’s - and yet, it is hard to think of anything the US government would consider more sensitive (except maybe nuclear launch codes). If your name is Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinyong, or Ali Khamenei, a copy of the CIA’s payroll would be utterly priceless.