NASA Moves to Secure Laptops After Breach

NASA this week informed staffers that a laptop containing their personally identifiable information was stolen from another employee's locked car.

As a result, the space agency is now working to encrypt all employee laptops that contain sensitive information.

The theft occurred on Oct. 31 and included a NASA laptop and official NASA documents issued to an employee who works at the space agency's Washington, D.C. headquarters.

"The laptop contained records of sensitive personally identifiable information (PII) for a large number of NASA employees, contractors, and others," according to a notice posted on spaceref.com. "Although the laptop was password protected, it did not have whole disk encryption software, which means the information on the laptop could be accessible to unauthorized individuals."

NASA did not reveal how many employees the theft might affect, but said it could take up to 60 days to notify all those involved. The agency said it is "thoroughly assessing and investigating the incident, and taking every possible action to mitigate the risk of harm or inconvenience to affected employees."

That includes partnering with ID Experts, a company that specializes in data breaches, to send letters to affected employees. They will have the option to protect their identities at no extra cost through ID Experts.

NASA warned employees not to give out personal information to people who claim - via phone or email - to be NASA staff. "NASA and ID Experts will not be contacting employees to ask for or confirm personal information," NASA said. "If you receive such a communication, please do not provide any personal information."

While this issue is sorted out, NASA has banned employees from removing laptops with sensitive information from its facilities unless whole disk encryption software is enabled or the sensitive files are individually encrypted. NASA's IT staff has been ordered to encrypt a large number of its laptops by Nov. 21 and to complete the process by Dec. 21. NASA ordered workers not to store any sensitive data on smartphones or other mobile devices.

NASA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This is not the first time NASA has lost a laptop with sensitive information. In February testimony before the House, Inspector General Paul Martin informed members of Congress that an unencrypted laptop was stolen from NASA in March 2011. It contained codes to control the International Space Station, and was just one of "5,408 computer security incidents [in 2010 and 2011] that resulted in the installation of malicious software on or unauthorized access to [NASA] systems," Martin said.

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NASA Moves to Secure Laptops After Breach

NASA ‘s Prolific Planet-Hunting Mission Goes Into Overtime

NASA's planet-hunting Kepler Space Telescope has begun its extended mission, which should keep the prolific instrument searching for alien worlds for another four years, agency officials announced today (Nov. 14).

Kepler officially embarked upon the extended mission after completing its 3 1/2-year prime mission, which aimed to determine how common Earth-like planets are throughout the galaxy. The extended phase, which NASA announced this past April, funds the instrument through at least fiscal year 2016.

Kepler is staring at more than 150,000 stars continuously. It detects exoplanets by noticing the tiny brightness dips caused when they transit or cross the face of these stars from the telescope's perspective.

The instrument generally needs to observe three such transits to spot a planet. So the extra hunting time is vital, scientists say, allowing Kepler to discover smaller planets and worlds that orbit relatively far from their stars. (A hypothetical alien Kepler, after all, would need to observe our solar system for several years to witness three transits by Earth.) [Gallery: A World of Kepler Planets]

Kepler has already made a series of impressive discoveries. Since its March 2009 launch, the telescope has detected more than 2,300 exoplanet candidates. Just 105 of them have been confirmed by follow-up observations to date, but the Kepler team estimates that at least 80 percent will end up being the real deal.

Confirmed discoveries include Kepler-10b, the first unquestionably rocky planet ever found beyond our solar system, and Kepler-22b, a world 2.4 times larger than Earth that orbits in its star's habitable zone that just-right range of distances where liquid water could exist.

And the Kepler candidates include hundreds of Earth-size worlds, as well as a number of habitable-zone planets.

"The initial discoveries of the Kepler mission indicate at least a third of the stars have planets and the number of planets in our galaxy must number in the billions," Kepler principal investigator Bill Borucki, of NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., said in a statement. "The planets of greatest interest are other Earths, and these could already be in the data awaiting analysis. Kepler's most exciting results are yet to come."

The $600 million Kepler mission is a big part of the burgeoning field of exoplanet science, which is compelling many people to reassess humanity's place in the cosmos. Scientists with many different research teams have already confirmed more than 800 alien planets since the first was found around a sun-like star in 1995.

"The Earth isn't unique, nor the center of the universe," said veteran planet-hunter Geoff Marcy, a professor of astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley. "The diversity of other worlds is greater than depicted in all the science fiction novels and movies. Aristotle would be proud of us for answering some of the most profound philosophical questions about our place in the universe."

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NASA 's Prolific Planet-Hunting Mission Goes Into Overtime

Stolen NASA Laptop Prompts New Security Rules

A "large number" of NASA employees may be at risk following the theft of an unencrypted agency laptop and several other documents from an employee vehicle. The theft has prompted the space agency to adopt new security procedures.

"We are thoroughly assessing and investigating the incident, and taking every possible action to mitigate the risk of harm or inconvenience to affected employees," Richard Keegan Jr., NASA's associate deputy administrator, said in a Nov. 13 email to all NASA employees.

"The Administrator is extremely concerned about this incident and has directed that all IT security issues be given the highest priority," Keegan said, referring to Charles Bolden Jr., NASA administrator since 2009.

Last year, NASA admitted that similar data breaches had resulted in the loss or theft of 48 portable electronic devices. Among the data compromised were International Space Station command-and-control codes and employees' personal information.

In one case very similar to the current one, a laptop was stolen in March 2011 from an employee's car at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The latest breach, which occurred on Oct. 31, finally spurred NASA into action. The space agency has enacted new policies, including mandatory full-disk encryption for NASA-issued computers that go off the premises.

"This applies to laptops containing PII [personally identifiable information], International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and Export Administration Regulations (EAR) data, procurement and human resources information, and other sensitive but unclassified (SBU) data," Keegan said.

The new rules will apply to all laptops, regardless of what they contain, a statement said. Encryption on all NASA devices must be completed by Dec. 21.

In addition to the new encryption rules, NASA will forbid employees from storing sensitive information on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. All data not immediately required must also be deleted from local hard drives and stored on networked drives instead.

As of February, only one percent of NASA laptops were encrypted, Kaspersky's Threatpost security blog reported. The agency that was once at the edge of technological accomplishment and took us to the moon may have some catching up to do.

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Stolen NASA Laptop Prompts New Security Rules

Nasa acts to tackle lost laptops

15 November 2012 Last updated at 09:09 ET

US space agency Nasa has ordered that the data on all its laptops must be encrypted, after losing another one of its portable computers.

Until the process is complete, it has forbidden staff from removing Nasa-issued laptops containing sensitive information from its facilities.

The order follows the loss of a device containing "sensitive personally identifiable information".

There have been several similar incidents over recent years.

Nasa said the latest incident had occurred on 31 October, when a laptop and documents were stolen from a locked vehicle of one of its employees at Nasa headquarters in Washington DC.

The machine was password protected, but the agency acknowledged that the information might still be accessible to hackers since it was not encrypted.

Encryption would have scrambled the data, requiring a complicated code to make it understandable again.

As a result, Nasa has warned its workers to watch out for bogus messages.

"All employees should be aware of any phone calls, emails, and other communications from individuals claiming to be from Nasa or other official sources that ask for personal information or verification of it," an agency-wide email published by news site Spaceref stated.

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Nasa acts to tackle lost laptops

MARS NEW VIDEO 12/11/2012 ( NASA ) – Video


MARS NEW VIDEO 12/11/2012 ( NASA )
MARS NEW VIDEO 12/11/2012 MARS NEW VIDEO 12/11/2012 MARS NEW VIDEO 12/11/2012 NASA NEW VIDEO 12/11/2012 Top Ten Reasons You Need the Funny Kids Books 10. You need a great gift for new parents or grandparents. 9. You know a shut-in who needs some smiles. ("A merry heart does good like a medicine" - Proverbs) 8. Your pastor needs humorous material for his talks. 7. You need a spot to write down the funny things your kids/grandkids/students say. (Each book has space for people to add their own stories.) 6. You want to see a beautiful example of the miracle of organ and tissue donation. 5. You know your kids said funny things but you can #39;t remember them. (The books will bring back memories!) 4. You want to see the world through the eyes of a child. 3. You want to stay young at heart. 2. You need good books for your office waiting room. (One dentist reported a lady came back to his waiting room the day after her appointment just to read the Funny Kids books!) 1. You need to get in shape. Laughter is "inner jogging!" Unfailing techno master Peter Sliwinski (aka Echoplex) is back with another destroyer on his own Soleil Records. No track title information was provided on this advance, but suffice to say, all three cuts are ass-shaking, foundation-rocking funky techno movers and have gone directly to the top of my chart. Quality as usual. ***** (5 of 5) Wishbox EP -- Damon Wild -- Synewave (US) Label boss and all-around techno genius Damon Wild is back with another tight release ...From:farhan khanViews:0 0ratingsTime:00:50More inEntertainment

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MARS NEW VIDEO 12/11/2012 ( NASA ) - Video

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Mike Bara: Ancient Aliens On The Moon? Part 1/2 – Video


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Rodent Mouse on Planet Mars – Planet X Annunaki – Video


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http://www.nasa.gov Is this a living rodent on Mars? It is indeed, as the outline of the head and shoulder, placement of the eye and ear, and shadows under the cheeks and beneath the body show. If Mars itself only evolved to the level of moss and bugs, worms in the soil, how and when did these rodents arrive? We have recently confirmed the skeletal head of a sheep on the Mar #39;s landscape, brought to Mars by the Annunaki so they could have meat during their long stay between passages of their home planet, Nibiru (aka Planet X). Though their herds were expected to graze, they brought grain and nuts and dried fruits, which invariably have rodents if only tiny and young. Rodents can live on moss and bugs and worms, which are good protein, and are very adaptable, and live there still! zetatalk.com http://www.zetatalk.comFrom:thecanadianvandalViews:109 10ratingsTime:01:06More inScience Technology

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Rodent Mouse on Planet Mars - Planet X Annunaki - Video

Hubblecast 59 Unweaving the rainbow – Video


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In this episode of the Hubblecast, we do away with Hubble #39;s stunning pictures of the cosmos, and focus on one of the telescope #39;s most important mdash; but least known mdash; functions. Like a digital camera, Hubble #39;s cameras produce colour images by sampling just a handful of colours and combining them together into one picture. The detail is extraordinary mdash; but while the colours are accurate enough for the human eye, they are not good enough for some kinds of scientific work, such as the study of distant galaxies and extrasolar planets. For much of their research, astronomers use Hubble #39;s spectrometers, devices that split up light into a rainbow of component colours, to reveal many of the hidden properties of the Universe. These observing methods may not produce attractive images, but they lie behind some of the most profound science that Hubble does. In this episode, presenter Joe Liske (aka Dr J) and Hubble astronomer Bob Fosbury give a introduction to spectroscopy using Hubble, how it works, and what it #39;s for. Credit: ESA/Hubble Visual design and editing: Martin Kornmesser Web and technical support: Mathias Andre and Raquel Yumi Shida Written by: Oli Usher Interviews: Oli Usher Filming: Herbert Zodet Presented by: Joe Liske (Dr J), with Bob Fosbury Narrator: Sara Mendes da Costa Images: NASA, ESA, Bob Fosbury, Martin Kornmesser Visualisations and animations: Luis Calada, Martin Kornmesser, Andr Roquette. Music: Steve Buick Directed by: Oli Usher Cinematography: Peter Rixner ...From:MrAbkebabViews:0 0ratingsTime:06:15More inScience Technology

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Hubblecast 59 Unweaving the rainbow - Video

Unidentified Object in Mars Curiosity Photos – Video


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Found this Unidentified Object while searching Mars Photographs. This set of photos is from NASA Mars Curiosity SOL 87 . The white dot is in the same spot although the camera has panned over. Pretty strange reflection. Is there something that could not be picked up in the photo or a reflection from some unknown object? You can find these images here mars.jpl.nasa.gov and Here mars.jpl.nasa.gov Happy UFO hunting! Be sure to check out the UFO sightings blog at ufosightingz.blogspot.com and like the facebook fan page at http Be sure to follow UFO Clouds on Twitter at twitter.com Always Look Up UFO #39;s Could be flying above you! Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems Music Credit: UFO CloudsFrom:UFO HuntingCloudsViews:1 1ratingsTime:01:03More inEntertainment

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Unidentified Object in Mars Curiosity Photos - Video

Nasa Space Shuttle Launch ON-BOARD Cams – STS-133 – Video


Nasa Space Shuttle Launch ON-BOARD Cams - STS-133
Sensational On-Board FRONT WINDOW + SRB Views of the febr 2011 Space Shuttle launch with Pilots view from the e-Tank the dramatic fall from the SRB s back to Earth... +ONBOARD SOUND from start "till fall ....From:nap00084Views:1987 10ratingsTime:37:17More inScience Technology

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Nasa Space Shuttle Launch ON-BOARD Cams - STS-133 - Video

Nanette and Nick – Love is the key – Video


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This weekend #39;s full moon hangs lower in the sky than any other full moon of 2007, according to NASA, and it #39;s a good time to be fooled. When low on the horizon, the Moon can appear to be larger than when it #39;s higher in the sky. It #39;s all an illusion, scientists say, and it does not involve any enlarging effects of the atmosphere. Rather, it #39;s all in your mind. Love can sometimes be the same.From:Nanettesky1Views:0 0ratingsTime:04:41More inMusic

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Nanette and Nick - Love is the key - Video

Blue sky on Mars Sols 859 to 1037 # 2 MER Spirit – Video


Blue sky on Mars Sols 859 to 1037 # 2 MER Spirit
This is a replacement for the original file posted in 2007, which seems to have broken now and plays for less than a second. I made it play longer so you can see the dates better. It only lasts for a few seconds, so there is no audio. Mer2PSol859Hr9Min38b.avi A short movie sequence made by software called MERDAT using images from the NASA Spirit rover in approximate true colour. Demonstrates that when the weather is kind the dust clears fairly well. Still image data courtesy NASA/PDS.From:vk3ukfViews:1 0ratingsTime:00:07More inScience Technology

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Blue sky on Mars Sols 859 to 1037 # 2 MER Spirit - Video

Angry birds space gameplay mac: ep 3 – Video


Angry birds space gameplay mac: ep 3
This is the 1 part of the Playtrough for the new Angry Birds Space for mac, made by Rovio and NASA. story: The chase is on! After a giant claw kidnaps their eggs, the Angry Birds chase it into a wormhole and find themselves floating in a strange new galaxy -- surrounded by space pigs! Luckily the Angry Birds have super powers of their own... Angry Birds Space introduces you to new adventures on planets and in zero gravity, resulting in spectacular gameplay ranging from slow-motion puzzles to lightspeed destruction. With brand new birds, brand new superpowers, and a whole galaxy to explore, the sky is no longer the limit! Also featuring the DANGER ZONE, the most difficult Angry Birds levels ever! Can you master the Danger Zone?From:KILLERF00TViews:1 1ratingsTime:09:34More inGaming

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Angry birds space gameplay mac: ep 3 - Video

Nasa's new Moon missions: Will Europe be involved?

There can be little doubt that Nasa is preparing to return to the Moon but will Europe participate in the effort? We could have a better idea later this month. On Thursday, space.com reported that Nasa could soon unveil ambitious plans for a return to the Moon. The mission would not be to the surface but to a gravitational sweet spot behind the Moon that offers free parking for spacecraft. Known ...

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Nasa's new Moon missions: Will Europe be involved?