DHS hack a reminder that government is no good at data security

A hacker claimed this week to have stolen 200 gigabytes of sensitive government information, including personal details about 30,000 employees at the Department of Homeland Security and FBI.

How did he do it? When his initial attacks failed, he posed as a confused government employee and called the agency’s customer service line. They proved very helpful, immediately providing him with a valid token code. This frequently-changing access code is supposed to improve security, because employees are only able to obtain it through a government-issued device they’re meant to carry with them. But token codes aren’t much protection when people give them out to strangers over the phone.