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German Military Using WebEx for Secret Talks

25 points by KingOfCoders 3y ago

nonrandomstring 3y ago
Given the appalling record of Cisco products for backdoors [0], and the allegation that Cisco willingly installed backdoors [1] on the orders of an agency known for espionage against the German government [2], is it a surprise that the Russians found a key under the flower-pot? [0] https://www.tomshardware.com/news/cisco-backdoor-hardcoded-accounts-software,37480.html https://www.tomshardware.com/news/cisco-backdoor-hardcoded-a... [1] https://www.infoworld.com/article/2608141/snowden--the-nsa-planted-backdoors-in-cisco-products.html https://www.infoworld.com/article/2608141/snowden--the-nsa-p... [2] https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/cover-story-how-nsa-spied-on-merkel-cell-phone-from-berlin-embassy-a-930205.html https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/cover-story-how...
deleted 3y ago
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_kb 3y ago
I hold the wider Cisco org with as much contempt as any non-MBA technologist, but to be fair, the WebEx team appear to be doing some interesting things with zero trust [0], MLS [1], and watermarking [2]. A lot of mass market / SaaS comms tools are abysmal at best on the security front but it's nice to at least see some semblance of effort on a few layers of controls. [0]: https://www.webex.com/content/dam/wbx/us/documents/pdf/Zero_Trust_Security_White_Paper.pdf https://www.webex.com/content/dam/wbx/us/documents/pdf/Zero_... [1]: https://messaginglayersecurity.rocks/ https://messaginglayersecurity.rocks/ [2]: https://blog.webex.com/hybrid-work/webex-audio-watermarking/ https://blog.webex.com/hybrid-work/webex-audio-watermarking/
r0ckarong 3y ago
And that's what happens if you demilitarize and then put all your cards on consulting companies. I wanna see the KPMG, McKinsey battalion defending the Eastern border against a Russian invasion.
- VK538FY 3y ago
  Well aware that the big consulting firms work closely with western governments on certain subjects (public health, economy) but if they are providing military advice, that's news to me.
  - r0ckarong 3y ago
    https://kpmg.com/de/de/home/themen/2024/02/modernisierung-der-bundeswehr.html https://kpmg.com/de/de/home/themen/2024/02/modernisierung-de... https://consultingstar.com/nachrichten/21410 https://consultingstar.com/nachrichten/21410 Sorry for German but that's what I turned up on the first try. At least the Bundeswehr is dumping a lot of money into these companies.
    - VK538FY 3y ago
      Don't be sorry, that's interesting stuff. I stand corrected.
- tut-urut-utut 3y ago
  Me too. These guys are a net loss for the humanity at large. No one would miss them.
LightFog 3y ago
Seems unlikely related to the Webex platform itself - either a device or account breach or network if they were silly enough not to use the E2E encryption feature.
- awesomeMilou 3y ago
  There is a bunch of speculation on German reddit as to what caused the leak. An interesting theory includes a Bluetooth headset getting hacked.
  - LightFog 3y ago
    That would make a lot of sense given the absolute crapware that comes with them.
  - baxtr 3y ago
    Could you kindly share a link?
  - rasz 3y ago
    I heard "dialed into the Webex call from Singapore over an unsecure phone line" one.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
baybal2 3y ago
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25 points by KingOfCoders 3y ago

Given the appalling record of Cisco products for backdoors [0], and the allegation that Cisco willingly installed backdoors [1] on the orders of an agency known for espionage against the German government [2], is it a surprise that the Russians found a key under the flower-pot? [0] https://www.tomshardware.com/news/cisco-backdoor-hardcoded-accounts-software,37480.html https://www.tomshardware.com/news/cisco-backdoor-hardcoded-a... [1] https://www.infoworld.com/article/2608141/snowden--the-nsa-planted-backdoors-in-cisco-products.html https://www.infoworld.com/article/2608141/snowden--the-nsa-p... [2] https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/cover-story-how-nsa-spied-on-merkel-cell-phone-from-berlin-embassy-a-930205.html https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/cover-story-how...

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

_kb 3y ago

I hold the wider Cisco org with as much contempt as any non-MBA technologist, but to be fair, the WebEx team appear to be doing some interesting things with zero trust [0], MLS [1], and watermarking [2]. A lot of mass market / SaaS comms tools are abysmal at best on the security front but it's nice to at least see some semblance of effort on a few layers of controls. [0]: https://www.webex.com/content/dam/wbx/us/documents/pdf/Zero_Trust_Security_White_Paper.pdf https://www.webex.com/content/dam/wbx/us/documents/pdf/Zero_... [1]: https://messaginglayersecurity.rocks/ https://messaginglayersecurity.rocks/ [2]: https://blog.webex.com/hybrid-work/webex-audio-watermarking/ https://blog.webex.com/hybrid-work/webex-audio-watermarking/

r0ckarong 3y ago

And that's what happens if you demilitarize and then put all your cards on consulting companies. I wanna see the KPMG, McKinsey battalion defending the Eastern border against a Russian invasion.

VK538FY 3y ago
Well aware that the big consulting firms work closely with western governments on certain subjects (public health, economy) but if they are providing military advice, that's news to me.
- r0ckarong 3y ago
  https://kpmg.com/de/de/home/themen/2024/02/modernisierung-der-bundeswehr.html https://kpmg.com/de/de/home/themen/2024/02/modernisierung-de... https://consultingstar.com/nachrichten/21410 https://consultingstar.com/nachrichten/21410 Sorry for German but that's what I turned up on the first try. At least the Bundeswehr is dumping a lot of money into these companies.
  - VK538FY 3y ago
    Don't be sorry, that's interesting stuff. I stand corrected.
tut-urut-utut 3y ago
Me too. These guys are a net loss for the humanity at large. No one would miss them.

LightFog 3y ago

Seems unlikely related to the Webex platform itself - either a device or account breach or network if they were silly enough not to use the E2E encryption feature.

awesomeMilou 3y ago
There is a bunch of speculation on German reddit as to what caused the leak. An interesting theory includes a Bluetooth headset getting hacked.
- LightFog 3y ago
  That would make a lot of sense given the absolute crapware that comes with them.
- baxtr 3y ago
  Could you kindly share a link?
- rasz 3y ago
  I heard "dialed into the Webex call from Singapore over an unsecure phone line" one.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

baybal2 3y ago

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