22 terabytes of Dallas Police case file data deleted

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: BlissSeeker

Until you stop and realize that a good amount of public IT infrastructure runs on platforms that are most likely older than a good portion of the membership. It's a serious weak link which sadly isn't limited to public networks, a good amount of private ones are running on trash systems that your kids could hack.

I worked with ethical hackers, they could get SS# in less than 3 minutes.
Nothing is 100%, but this sounds like pure incompetence.
There should be backups to backups in places like this.

a reply to: JAGStorm

It's most likely due to the age of the system, it's inability to be customized and issues arising over data transfers which occur even with newer platforms to competing platforms, e.g. Microsoft Dynamics to Salesforce.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: JAGStorm

It's most likely due to the age of the system, it's inability to be customized and issues arising over data transfers which occur even with newer platforms to competing platforms, e.g. Microsoft Dynamics to Salesforce.

I was in IT for most of my career, I know why.
It’s like transferring 8track to MP3s or better yet, tik toks!
Still, heads should roll.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

Until you stop and realize that a good amount of public IT infrastructure runs on platforms that are most likely older than a good portion of the membership. It's a serious weak link which sadly isn't limited to public networks, a good amount of private ones are running on trash systems that your kids could hack.

People would be shocked on how much crap is still using DOS 3.11 or older...lol

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

It's most likely due to the age of the system, it's inability to be customized and issues arising over data transfers which occur even with newer platforms to competing platforms, e.g. Microsoft Dynamics to Salesforce.

Excuse me sir... I have 10 warehouses full of 5.25 floppy disk that I need 22 terabytes transferred...

I remember about 10+ years ago they discovered they lost about 90%+ of all the engineering data from the Apollo program. It was all on microfilm that rotted away. They were having engineering students go to the air space museum in Huntsville to reengineer the parts from all the rockets they have there.

In the source material or on one of the replies is the actual infrastructure that suffered this failure listed or is any loose semblance of the topology given?

For the below I am not saying it couldn't be incompetence or something nefarious just that for all the "I have been in IT for 4567 years so I know for sure" people it's really taking a logic jump to make any firm statements based off the info known. Anyone with more then 5 seconds in this industry knows complex things have a way of breaking in a simple way that causes complex outcomes. Now mash that basic equation up all the different ways you can and enjoy. lulz.

It's just as likely that it could have been a hardware failure as it was a policy failure as it was some external or internal actors exploiting some antiquated and unpatched system. Hell it is most likely that it was a hardware or software failure that triggered a bug that was exacerbated by policy failure or some combo of that. Yes you have the SolarWinds fiasco, yes you have the disgruntled Cisco employee deleting Webex VMs scenario yes you have other well known and less known "Hax0rs did it. l33t¿" but unless something comes to show it was an Infosec related item then I don't see jumping to any conclusions.

That being said is there any other info out there besides "22 TB of data deleted" ?

a reply to: opethPA

Anyone with more then 5 seconds in this industry knows complex things have a way of breaking in a simple way that causes complex outcomes.

Exactly, anyone one with 5 seconds in the industry knows craps happens so you can't have all your eggs in one basket, if you do, you are asking for it.
There were data centers that learned the hard way when the Texas storm fiasko happened.

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: opethPA

Anyone with more then 5 seconds in this industry knows complex things have a way of breaking in a simple way that causes complex outcomes.

Exactly, anyone one with 5 seconds in the industry knows craps happens so you can't have all your eggs in one basket, if you do, you are asking for it.

No doubt, which topology drawing or dataset shows they had their eggs in one basket?

a reply to: opethPA

No doubt, which topology drawing or dataset shows they had their eggs in one basket?

You work for Dallas PD IT ?

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: opethPA

No doubt, which topology drawing or dataset shows they had their eggs in one basket?

You work for Dallas PD IT ?

Nope, I'm just interested in facts and enjoy legit RCA's. =)

a reply to: opethPA

For the below I am not saying it couldn't be incompetence or something nefarious just that for all the "I have been in IT for 4567 years so I know for sure...

Nobody in this thread has said anything similar to that. What are you on about? We've all said it could be as simple as equipment failure or incompetence, and none of us has said we know for certain.

a reply to: Klassified

Nobody in this thread has said anything similar to that. What are you on about? We've all said it could be as simple as equipment failure or incompetence, and none of us has said we know for certain.

Exactly, I only highlighted my time in IT because I know how many systems don't talk, it is actually humorous.
Wasn't saying it to say I know exactly what happened in this case.

I do think data loss is preventable in 99.99% of cases. Unfortunatly sometimes it takes data loss to shock people into doing the right thing.

originally posted by: Klassified
a reply to: opethPA

For the below I am not saying it couldn't be incompetence or something nefarious just that for all the "I have been in IT for 4567 years so I know for sure...

Nobody in this thread has said anything similar to that. What are you on about? We've all said it could be as simple as equipment failure or incompetence, and none of us has said we know for certain.

I'm sorry , let me scale back chatting like I am on the Internet chatting to other people on the Internet . I'll own that snark today. =)

Is there any additional technical info that talks about an RCA or at least gives the loose parameters of the RCA?

a reply to: opethPA

Is there any additional technical info that talks about an RCA or at least gives the loose parameters of the RCA?

No. Obviously the DA isn't going to go into that in an initial letter, so we're in the dark on that until it is made public, which may never happen. The public in general doesn't even know what an RCA is and doesn't care. Oddly enough, I found this statement...

On Thursday, WFAA obtained a letter sent from Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson two two committee chairs who oversee public safety and government performance and financial management. Johnson said the news of the lost files was "especially stunning because this problem apparently had been known to some City of Dallas officials for months."

Link

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: BlissSeeker

Until you stop and realize that a good amount of public IT infrastructure runs on platforms that are most likely older than a good portion of the membership. It's a serious weak link which sadly isn't limited to public networks, a good amount of private ones are running on trash systems that your kids could hack.

I worked in IT (Networking) most of my life and these is no way you accidentally lose this much date just by making a backup. How old the system it is on does not matter as you dont even use that system software itself. So unless a drive died thats not happening at all and if a drive dies you send it to one of those labs to recover it where they can even recover data from burned drives cause by fires. This can cost 1 to 5K at best.

And i dont see how adding hackers pertains to this event in anyway other then padding your post.

originally posted by: everyone
I worked in IT (Networking) most of my life and these is no way you accidentally lose this much date just by making a backup.

Define 'accident'. Could some bobo accidentally delete files they're not supposed to because the system is such a POS? Do you know some extra details the rest of us don't?

Occam's precludes me from saying 'malicious event' because most of this stuff is human and/or system error.

originally posted by: everyone

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: BlissSeeker

Until you stop and realize that a good amount of public IT infrastructure runs on platforms that are most likely older than a good portion of the membership. It's a serious weak link which sadly isn't limited to public networks, a good amount of private ones are running on trash systems that your kids could hack.

I worked in IT (Networking) most of my life and these is no way you accidentally lose this much date just by making a backup. How old the system it is on does not matter as you dont even use that system software itself. So unless a drive died thats not happening at all and if a drive dies you send it to one of those labs to recover it where they can even recover data from burned drives cause by fires. This can cost 1 to 5K at best.

And i dont see how adding hackers pertains to this event in anyway other then padding your post.

Most backups are unattended and automated.

I've seen hardware failure of backups that the IT team wasn't even aware of for months,.

When that happens you can only restore so much of the data, which apparently is what they did.

We can only guess at what happened.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: everyone
I worked in IT (Networking) most of my life and these is no way you accidentally lose this much date just by making a backup.

Define 'accident'. Could some bobo accidentally delete files they're not supposed to because the system is such a POS? Do you know some extra details the rest of us don't?

Occam's precludes me from saying 'malicious event' because most of this stuff is human and/or system error.

I sure do know details that you dont. If some bobo accidentally deleted those files it would have been a breeze to get them back. No need to send them to the lab for recovery.

originally posted by: MykeNukem

originally posted by: everyone

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: BlissSeeker

Until you stop and realize that a good amount of public IT infrastructure runs on platforms that are most likely older than a good portion of the membership. It's a serious weak link which sadly isn't limited to public networks, a good amount of private ones are running on trash systems that your kids could hack.

I worked in IT (Networking) most of my life and these is no way you accidentally lose this much date just by making a backup. How old the system it is on does not matter as you dont even use that system software itself. So unless a drive died thats not happening at all and if a drive dies you send it to one of those labs to recover it where they can even recover data from burned drives cause by fires. This can cost 1 to 5K at best.

And i dont see how adding hackers pertains to this event in anyway other then padding your post.

Most backups are unattended and automated.

I've seen hardware failure of backups that the IT team wasn't even aware of for months,.

When that happens you can only restore so much of the data, which apparently is what they did.

We can only guess at what happened.

That can happen but thats a very bad IT team right there. That would have been logged , flagged and mailed by the system, nothing modern about that. But can happen yes.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: BlissSeeker

Until you stop and realize that a good amount of public IT infrastructure runs on platforms that are most likely older than a good portion of the membership. It's a serious weak link which sadly isn't limited to public networks, a good amount of private ones are running on trash systems that your kids could hack.

No wonder there's a push to teach more people how to "code".