Hackers hit LHC computer system, deemed "scary experience"

Those already fearful of the Large Hadron Collider's potential Earth-ending capabilities may want to turn away for this one, as it looks like the situation has managed to get a bit more perilous, with a team of hackers apparently successful in mounting an attack on a system that is "one step away" from the computer system that controls of one of the LHC's massive detectors. According to The Telegraph newspaper, the group, calling itself the "Greek Security Team," left behind a half a dozen files on the system and damaged one CERN file, in addition to displaying the page above on the cmsmon.cern.ch website, which still remained inaccessible as of Friday. Somewhat disconcertingly, one of the scientists working at CERN simply described the incident as a "scary experience," with a CERN spokesperson further adding that they thought it was just someone "making the point that [the system] was hackable." Um, okaaaay.

[Via CNET News]

[Samboini @ Sep 12th 2008 4:48PM]

I'd love the irony if the world's most 1337 individuals managed to wipe us all out. That would teach them! And us, apparently.

[SteveJr_Ri @ Sep 12th 2008 5:07PM]

I could understand why it was connected to the internet, to transmit data back to some lab, but it just seems to make no sense why they would have one of the main pieces of machinery connected to the world, basically...and apparently i'm no alone in thinking this

[Pip @ Sep 12th 2008 5:09PM]

Am I the only one who sees these as a cheesy Sci-Fi movie plot... except for real. "If we can hack the "system", we can create a black hole and destroy the world. Unless you pay us $100 billion dollars!". Then for some reason, the Asgate from Stargate SG-1 come and protect us... This Sunday on Sci-Fi.

[NickTheRat @ Sep 12th 2008 5:16PM]

ITS A TRAP!

[Jack @ Sep 12th 2008 5:48PM]

I have a lot of respect for these hackers. They took the time to exploit the systems vulnerabilities and then make a statement. like some kool action movie anti-hero.....weighing in more than 250 lbs and working from a basement of course :)

[nerdtalker @ Sep 12th 2008 5:49PM]

@SteveJr_Ri,

You are indeed joking, right? CERN and inter-university networks practically fucking _spawned_ the internet. Pardon my language, but... That's a bit daft of a comment to be making on a gadget site about one of the biggest and most sophisticated (if not THE biggest and most sophisticated) science experiment ever.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Internet#CERN.2C_the_European_internet.2C_the_link_to_the_Pacific_and_beyond

[HunterXI @ Sep 12th 2008 6:13PM]

@nerdtalker: Keep the scope of your statements straight. A researcher (Tim Berners-Lee) at CERN invented the WORLD WIDE WEB (the interconnected mesh network of web pages), not the Internet (the system of interlinked computers which can carry data from any one node to any other).

[Andrew @ Sep 12th 2008 6:15PM]

nerdtalker: I think you fail to see his point. The point isn't that CERN would have a website and be online. It's about the LHC's internal computers actually being connected to an the internet. I very seriously doubt that they are. I'm sure they've kept all of the internal systems isolated in their own network, and just have web servers outside of that network. To actually have systems that control the LHC accessible, and with open ports to the internet, would be just downright irresponsible.

[Greg @ Sep 12th 2008 8:59PM]

If I am not mistaken, there are several detectors in operation at the LHC. I doubt that any of them afford any sort of control over the series of colliders in operation. The hackers may be able to fuck-up someones readings, but I sincerely doubt that they are able to do much else. There is logic to setting up remote access to detector readings simply because I can't imagine anyone would want to spend the next few months in a cave with constant mini nuclear explosions around them.

[Techie @ Sep 13th 2008 12:32AM]

I can finally say "Your mother is so fat even the Cern Hadron Collider Black Hole won't be able to swallow her up."

[Wwhat @ Sep 13th 2008 2:33AM]

I qoute:
"If they had hacked into a second computer network, they could have turned off parts of the vast detector and, said the insider, "it is hard enough to make these things work if no one is messing with it.""

Notice the 'second' there? And the 'turned off' doesn't sound too scary either.

[Juxtah @ Sep 13th 2008 4:12AM]

@Andrew - irresponsible, yes. Required? Maybe. The LHC will produce a massive amount of data that CERN alone have no hope of ever handling, so to get around this problem they've connected a Europe wide network of super computers from many countries to deal with this data. And although it would be possible to make this a closed system, it would be especially difficult to transmit this data without using the existing infrastructure, which could plausibly be hacked.

However as already said even if hackers were successful the most the could do is skew some results (and when you're getting 10 of thousands of them it would stick out like a sore thumb) and not interfere with any physical parts of the LHC.

[tg @ Sep 13th 2008 11:20AM]

CERN is way too complicated for even the most 1337 hackers to use. They would have no idea what they were doing with it! it's not like some stupid laser you can just blast and create a black hole

[Shane @ Sep 13th 2008 12:04PM]

OK, so they hacked one of the monitoring systems on a detector. Big deal. If they hacked the actual control systems that might be more notable. Even if they did hack those systems, however, there are multiple safeguards and interlocks in place to keep things from actually energizing without some form of human intervention first. Lock out, tag out.

[egloskerry @ Sep 13th 2008 8:48PM]

@Pip: Asgard, not Asgate.

[Imran @ Sep 12th 2008 4:48PM]

Sigh, just keeps getting better doesn't it.

[jakem @ Sep 12th 2008 8:16PM]

Perhaps they should have used Windows instead of Linux :)

[Decoy @ Sep 14th 2008 8:53PM]

"The Universe" has stopped responding.

Would you like to send an error report to Microsoft?

[Jeremy K. @ Sep 12th 2008 4:49PM]

Why is the computer that controls the LHC connected to the internet? It should be a closed system.

[avester @ Sep 12th 2008 4:51PM]

Since then the hackers would ascend with rope from the laser protected vents, to the big computer room, where of course nobody it, and it has all sorts of gizmos, like pressure and noise sensors.

[JJV @ Sep 12th 2008 4:55PM]

wtfhaxlol....

i was thinking exactly the samething Jeremy, why on earth would you even give the option of having a hacked remote access on a system this powerful and this expensive.... its like having security cameras at banks broadcasting on television frequencies so everyone can see them....

[strang @ Sep 12th 2008 4:59PM]

You're right. Why is a control system accessible via the web? Why isn't it a closed system? I thought this was a just a deface until I read about the damaged system file.

[ironman @ Sep 12th 2008 5:13PM]

they have to check Wikipedia to see what it's going to do

[Artie Lange @ Sep 12th 2008 5:12PM]

What they need is a Gibson. You can't hack that thing unless you harness the power of all the world's most 1337 haxors. Unless you have a DaVinci virus.

[IndiaTech @ Sep 12th 2008 5:14PM]

So that the scientists working on LHC can work from home. Duh...

[Victor V. @ Sep 12th 2008 8:27PM]

All they really need is not an ethernet cable attached. If they can have that, and crack the wifi card, we're all safe from hackers. Still, not safe from the scientists :P

[Nster @ Sep 12th 2008 5:25PM]

im assuming its because the large quantities of data the LHC will produce are going to be sent all over the world via the "grid"
maybe?

[giuliop @ Sep 12th 2008 5:48PM]

Just ponder the fact that these guys are the same that are operating this "safe" machine, and hope we don't get a worse "scary experience".

[HunterXI @ Sep 12th 2008 6:16PM]

"...on a system that is ONE STEP AWAY from the computer system that controls of ONE OF the LHC's massive DETECTORS..."

Please RTFA before commenting. You're off in at least three directions.

[Dave @ Sep 12th 2008 9:38PM]

Come on! Even scientists want to stay home and connect to their office computer using VNC! At least it gives them a 0.0000000000000000001 head start when they activate the world kill switch ;)

[thedesolate1 @ Sep 12th 2008 9:55PM]

Somebody better teach those Leet Hacker Children some manners and to respect their daddy. If Cern didnt invent the internet they would be kicking rocks right now...... oh god they are gonna hack me now for making that statement... =[

[iEye @ Sep 12th 2008 4:49PM]

If only they would use that power for good.... like unlocking the iPhones so that those iGeeks have no reason to walk around showing off a piece of iCrap...

[Raheem @ Sep 12th 2008 5:36PM]

An iPhone is crap because it's locked? Are you poor or a cellular network fanboy?

[Dr Zoidberg @ Sep 12th 2008 5:46PM]

iThink you should shut up about apple.

[HunterXI @ Sep 12th 2008 6:19PM]

"use that power for good"

Like, what, powering your HDTV? I'd say that scientific research ranks pretty high on the "good uses of power" scale.

[petrov @ Sep 13th 2008 12:11PM]

i think what he means is that if only the HACKERS would use that power for good...

[DarCowAlways @ Sep 14th 2008 1:11AM]

@HunterXI

But what if it's Primetime Friday? :(

[Peter Gaultney @ Sep 12th 2008 4:50PM]

Look on the bright side. At least all those naysayers have something to say nay about now. This IS a little scary.

[Alex @ Sep 12th 2008 5:15PM]

I don't see why the controls need to be networked in anyway besides some sort of intranet. Seems like it could run on a physically secure system. Maybe an inside job?

[bawalter1 @ Sep 12th 2008 4:53PM]

The computer system they are close to hacking controls a detector...

So now we not only need to fear the colliding particles (which in all honesty, poses no real threat to begin with), but we also need to fear hackers getting data that will be useless to them?

For some reason this story doesn't scare me at all...

[Zelatio @ Sep 12th 2008 5:13PM]

Yea, very true. This thing is never going to make a black hole. I doubt we will ever be able to make a black hole. That is like having the ability to condense the earth from it's current radius of approximately 3,900 miles to approximately 3/4ths of an inch. When we have the kind of power to do that, then I will start worrying about making a black hole.

[iofthestorm @ Sep 12th 2008 6:46PM]

I'm guessing this was just one of their web servers which happened to be in the same room as their control systems. I doubt they would actually have their control systems hooked up to the internet, they're not idiots.

[Simon @ Sep 12th 2008 9:35PM]

Finaly, a comment from someone who's not a tool.

If what they claim is true, they almost got to a detector. Not a controller, a detector!
Something that detects events and provides access to the data.
And even if it would have been a controller, what would they be able to control? Maybe mess up some experiments and waste a lot of time, but this is not a weapons system, it's not like they can overload it an destroy the planet with it.

Get a grip. This is not scary. It's just a bit embarrassing to the ones responsible for the web server.

[ED @ Sep 14th 2008 7:23PM]

We just need to hope that the detector in question isn't the anti-mass spectrometer.

[Matt @ Sep 12th 2008 5:50PM]

Perhaps they hacked into it so try and stop the process of the LHC because they are just as scared as i am, why are they even considering doing this, it could be the end of the world as we know it, its a very scary thought that no one should even have to think about, im probobly gonna S*** myself on October 21 just worrying about was is gonna happen, im 17 years old and my life is just beginning, i really dont want it cut short :'(

[idiot @ Sep 12th 2008 6:00PM]

grow a pair and live on the edge

[arkweld @ Sep 12th 2008 6:05PM]

If you're scared of the LHC I would advise staying in for the rest of your life.

There's probably a billion things that could kill you when you step outside before the LHC hits the top of the "things that might kill me" list.

Death by high speed squirrel and decapitated by extra large flying corn flake are bigger threats than the LHC.

[Rogue_Genius @ Sep 12th 2008 4:55PM]

All your LHC are belong to us?

[JJV @ Sep 12th 2008 5:03PM]

i can haz lhc?

[will @ Sep 12th 2008 4:57PM]

what the fuck is the internet??