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Speaking from experience, though, if you look and act the part, you can get by with a similar amount of SE effort in contractor facilities and/or military bases

Speaking from experience, though, if you look and act the part, you can get by with a similar amount of SE effort in contractor facilities and/or military bases. I'm not talking about Boeing's skunkworks or Groom Lake, but defense facilities and people in particular get a stereotype that isn't really true.

electromagnetic 12y ago
My uncle managed to get into a nuclear power plant with the wrong clearance tag. He was working on two facilities and grabbed the wrong tag when leaving the office. What he said was scariest is that anyone with access to a commercial printer and lamination machine could easily reproduce them too. So many people come and go from your average facility. I mean you can get past most gates just by landing a job at the right landscaping company if security is that strict. It also sounds like the target was in a shared office building, so they likely had minimal influence over security procedures.
ewoodrich 12y ago
I interned at a defense contractor, at a satellite office in a shared space. Everyone (including construction workers, movers, visiting officials, employees, etc) had to be badged and logged past the reception area. And truly restricted areas required swiping in with a proper level badge. Obviously, it's just an anecdote, but I would be surprised if similar requirements weren't standard for the defense industry.
- fapjacks 12y ago
  I had a rather long career in the military doing a huge variety of things, primarily with physical security. We were pretty good at our jobs (the US is generally militarily good at its job), but there were regular security lapses that would make regular people shudder. And this was involving activities with the State Department and TS facilities and materiel. You're right though: It's not like getting into a corporate satellite office. You're gonna need a badge of some kind (or correct-looking paperwork, et al) to BS your way past the guy at the door. But it's most definitely not the kind of thing people think of it.

electromagnetic 12y ago

My uncle managed to get into a nuclear power plant with the wrong clearance tag. He was working on two facilities and grabbed the wrong tag when leaving the office. What he said was scariest is that anyone with access to a commercial printer and lamination machine could easily reproduce them too. So many people come and go from your average facility. I mean you can get past most gates just by landing a job at the right landscaping company if security is that strict. It also sounds like the target was in a shared office building, so they likely had minimal influence over security procedures.

ewoodrich 12y ago

I interned at a defense contractor, at a satellite office in a shared space. Everyone (including construction workers, movers, visiting officials, employees, etc) had to be badged and logged past the reception area. And truly restricted areas required swiping in with a proper level badge. Obviously, it's just an anecdote, but I would be surprised if similar requirements weren't standard for the defense industry.

fapjacks 12y ago
I had a rather long career in the military doing a huge variety of things, primarily with physical security. We were pretty good at our jobs (the US is generally militarily good at its job), but there were regular security lapses that would make regular people shudder. And this was involving activities with the State Department and TS facilities and materiel. You're right though: It's not like getting into a corporate satellite office. You're gonna need a badge of some kind (or correct-looking paperwork, et al) to BS your way past the guy at the door. But it's most definitely not the kind of thing people think of it.