The international group of hackers who claim to have stolen software that maintains US military computer networks and equipment now says it has pilfered key software programs from NASA.
The group, which calls itself Masters of Downloading (MOD), said its penetration of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, had stripped the US space agency of its computer-intrusion alarms, thus allowing unauthorized users to enter network systems undetected.
John Vranesevich, who runs AntiOnline, a Web site devoted to information security issues, said Wednesday that the hackers had contacted him with new claims about a break-in at NASA and samples of the alleged NASA software as proof.
"They have access to a lot more than they've given to me, or let me know about," Vranesevich said. "The materials that they've supplied to me are the bottom of the totem pole; they are boosting their credibility with proof that they can get into these various systems."
Specifically, the group said it had key pieces of the NASA Automatic Systems Incident Response Capability software package and was able to penetrate NASA servers with impunity.
NASA had no immediate comment on the group's claims, although one official who had seen a list of the software allegedly stolen said, "it doesn't look too alarming."
"It is pretty trivial stuff that is openly available. It doesn't look like something a super-slick hacker would take," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
