IEEE Spectrum editor Josh Romero alerted me to this story at the Threat Level blog at Wired. Apparently, data about the New York Stock Exchange's (NYSE) technical infrastructure was accessible on a public FTP server for possibly a year. The Threat Level post says,
"The data, which was removed after Threat Level disclosed the situation to the NYSE, included several directories of files containing logs; server names; IP addresses; lists of hardware; lists of software versions running on the network; and configuration and patch histories, including what patches have not yet been installed.It was all available on a publicly accessible, unprotected FTP server maintained by EMC, a company that sells storage systems and managed services to the NYSE and other companies."
The blog post notes that EMC claims that the data was not sensitive, but other security experts the Threat Level folks contacted were not so sure. The information showed which critical patches to the system had and had not been made, for example.
EMC has refused to answer more detailed questions about the nature of the information posted, the Threat Level blog post said.
Robert N. Charette is a Contributing Editor to IEEE Spectrum and an acknowledged international authority on information technology and systems risk management. A self-described “risk ecologist,” he is interested in the intersections of business, political, technological, and societal risks. Charette is an award-winning author of multiple books and numerous articles on the subjects of risk management, project and program management, innovation, and entrepreneurship. A Life Senior Member of the IEEE, Charette was a recipient of the IEEE Computer Society’s Golden Core Award in 2008.
