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> He was not authorized to use wget I'd be interested in seeing the exhaustive list of programs they are authorized to use.

• ethanbond 12y ago
  Get a job at the DOD and I'm sure they'd be glad to share it with you. Is it really that unbelievable that the Department of Defense would have a strict set of software that's allowed to utilize their network, for a variety of reasons, including Manning's usecase or just simple security concerns? Is your employer comfortable with you sharing encryption keys via post-it notes stuck on your monitor? Should the DOD be comfortable with people accessing classified filesystems with any software they please? This is simply a non-argument. I think it's a tacked-on charge meant to take down a maybe-legitimate whistleblower, but it's not like you can say it's actually unreasonable/unrealistic.
  • duaneb 12y ago
    For one thing, I'm pretty sure a browser already contains everything necessary to do what manning did with a few lines of javascript.
    • ethanbond 12y ago
      A lot of government computers have VERY limited capabilities. No right click, no JS, no modifier keys, no copy/paste, etc. These are the real limitations of the real world and they're there by design. Manning skirted them, and he got hit for it.
  • DrJosiah 12y ago
    About 10-11 years ago, I was contacted by an employee at NOAA who needed sha1 checksums of open-source software I released. He needed it so that it could go on their whitelist of usable software, but he couldn't generate them himself due to policy. Whitelisting acceptable software really isn't a bad idea, especially for organizations that care about safety and security of data. The next step is to lock down the platforms to only execute whitelisted software (similar to how Apple tries to lock down iPhones, iPods, and iPads).