"Sydney airport thieves' ulterior motives"

Saturday, September 6, 2003

Airport thieves' ulterior motives
Australia - The Daily Telegraph


THIEVES who posed as computer technicians to steal from the nerve centre of
Sydney airport may have wanted to intercept top secret cables outlining the
air hub's security operations.

The Australian Federal Police has launched an investigation into the breach
that allowed two men to gain access to the airport's high security mainframe
room. 

The pair, described as of Pakistani-Indian-Arabic appearance, posed as
representatives of a computer company outsourced by the Australian Customs
Service. 

The men spent two hours disconnecting two large file servers, before
wheeling them out of the building. 

The large machines do not store or retain information but are used to
facilitate e-mail communications across the Customs network and other law
enforcement agencies. 

It is understood the AFP suspects the men may have either mistakenly taken
the drives believing they stored sensitive transmissions or wanted in some
way to use the servers to intercept electronic communications as they passed
between law enforcement agents. 

They are reviewing employee files at both Customs and the outsourced
Electronic Data Systems company, suspecting the thieves had inside help. 

They are also reviewing security CCTV footage from the August 27 theft
night. 

An embarrassed Customs yesterday played down the breach with a spokesman for
the minister Chris Ellison denying any sensitive material was stolen. He
said the servers did not retain or store information and was only used to
pass communications on the Customs network. 

He declined to say whether the thieves could have used the system to
intercept communications. "No evidence has emerged to indicate that there's
been any intrusion into the system," he said. 

He said all Customs officers were ordered to change their passwords as a
precaution. 

The AFP hid behind the fact it was in the midst of an inquiry to refuse to
comment. 

The embattled police service would not even say how many men gained unlawful
access to the room or even what they stole. 

The Community and Public Sector Union has demanded an in-person explanation
from Customs about the theft as has an enraged airport CEO Max Moore-Wilton.


The Immigration Department has also demanded to know why it was not told of
the theft as Customs computers often held sensitive immigration data. 

Former NSW assistant police commissioner and Olympics security chief Paul
McKinnon said it served as another wake-up call on airport security. 

He described it as strange the thieves were allowed in unescorted and
believed there should have been greater security. 

"Unfortunately it happens, and I guess this is a substantial wake-up call to
harden security arrangements in every aspect of the aviation facility there
at Mascot," he said. 

Meanwhile, a federal parliamentary inquiry into the security of government
information technology was yesterday reopened in light of the theft. 

Committee chairman Bob Charles carpeted Customs for not telling a separate
inquiry into aviation security about the thefts when they appeared as a
witness on Wednesday. 

Customs dismissed the accusation and said it did not want to compromise a
current investigation. 

Mr Charles said: "If someone can walk into a government secure environment
and walk out with mainframes, then I don't know what guarantee we have of
information technology security. I have just instructed our inquiry
secretary to reopen the hearings and reopen the inquiry."


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