Navy Warship USS Manchester Installed Starlink for Illegal Wi-Fi Connection

a US Navy ship recently made a shocking move by secretly installing Starling terminals on one of its warships but the big question is why is the Navy looking to improve its communication capabilities or is there something more Sinister in play find out more in our latest security story what's up everybody I'm Davin Jackson with e security planet and today's story is a real head scratcher it involves high seas high-tech gadgets and high-ranking military officials willing to risk their security for sports scores and Netflix so batting down the hatches because we're diving into the case of the stinky Wi-Fi get it bat and down the hatches no no okay this is the USS Manchester a literal combat ship capable of operating in various environments including the open ocean Coastal Waters and Nearshore however we're not here to discuss how awesome this ship is and it does look pretty awesome instead the ship is the scene of a recent major security conspiracy involving coverups from high ranking officials and of all things Wi-Fi according to a Navy times publication the ship senior enlisted leaders weren't really happy with their internet access during deployment now it's true Navy internet honor ship can be very slow or heavily restricted and that's by design for several reasons one being operational security but instead of adhering to the rules and working through official channels these Chiefs decided to take matters into their own hands enter Elon Musk well maybe not Elon directly but starlink Elon musk's internet from space project in April of 2023 the ship's Chief led by their then command Senior Chief secretly paid almost $3,000 to purchase a starlink dish and installed it on the Manchester with a wood pallet in tie down straps the high ranking officials then gave their new found secret Wi-Fi work a cool name they decided to name it stinky and they made stinky exclusive to a select few so while the rest of the crew were stuck with a limited internet connection if any at all the Chiefs and a few others were streaming movies catching up on sports scores and check in their social media probably not the best idea if you want to keep the ships morale high but if you ask me those who didn't have access they should consider that a blessing in disguise because they were about to bark on some Rough Waters ahead and that's because this is a perfect example of Shadow it and the problems that it can cause Shadow it refers to it systems and applications used within an organization without the knowledge or approval of the IT department or management this can include things like USB and cloud storage Services messaging apps and unauthorized Hardware devices people often use unimproved hardware and software to bypass the security protocols and restrictions that are set by management and it for example a user may use their personal apps at work or bring a storage device like a USB thumb drive or even plug a personal router into the company's Network to access their own personal Wi-Fi network although the use of Shadow it can make things more convenient it can also lead to serious security risks these include security gaps and data breaches Shadow it systems are often not subject to the same security controls as authorized systems which makes them more vulnerable to cyber attacks and data breaches malware infections Shadow it systems can also be more vulnerable to malware infections which can spread to other systems on the network Shadow it systems can also lead the compliance violations such as violations of data privacy regulations and that's exactly what was happening on the USS Manchester networks like stinky are banned on Navy ships because of operational security and cyber security concerns you see as navy ships are deployed to certain areas where there can be reconnaissance missions or even conflicts with adversaries a wireless network can become an attack Vector that can be used to gain access to the ship's Network by hacking into the Wi-Fi and stealing Mission critical information or even reveal the ship's location and although a small few were in on this scheme this wasn't exactly a top secret mission because word about an unauthorized Wi-Fi network got around the ship quickly especially when they bought signal amplifiers after noticing the signal didn't cover the entire ship and when someone left a comment in the commander suggestion box about the Wi-Fi network they intercepted the comment and denied its existence when more people started asking questions they changed the name of stinky to reflect a printer and when leadership conducted an investigation into rumors of a secret Wi-Fi network the command Senior Chief lied and denied the existence and the investigators never found the starlink dish so after all that the crew probably thought it was going to be smooth sailing from here on out but little did they know the tides were quickly changing and that's because a short time later a civilian contractor spotted the dish while performing maintenance and now here's the crazy part although the secret satellite crew knew that the work being done near their secret dish could expose their Wi-Fi network they agreed to still keep the dish installed I guess they thought after getting away with it for so long that no one else would let the cat out of the bag but they were wrong the contractor quickly reported the dish and when the command Senior Chief found out she sent a message to one of her colleagues that says the gig is up another investigation was launched and revealed not only Stinky's existence but that it also potentially compromised the ship security the investigation also found that at least 15 crew members knew about it as for the command Senior Chief well she was dead in the water after she was found to have lied about only using the satellite import multiple times and she even falsified data usage charts and documents with all the evidence stacked against her the command Senior Chief had no choice but to finally confess to everything and she pled guilty to willful der elction of Duty and two false official statements charges the other Chiefs admitted to their use of the Wi-Fi network and handed over to starlink system so what were the consequences well they didn't have to walk the plank but they definitely didn't get a slap on the wrist either the command Chief received a non-judicial punishment which included an demotion in being relieved of command as for the other Chiefs involved they likely face similar repercussions so what can we learn from this whole stinky situation get it stinky Wi-Fi forget it Shadow it might seem like a harmless way to get better wi-fi but it can have serious security and disciplinary consequences in this situation the Chiefs put the ship and crew at risk with their actions and trying to cover it up led to Career damaging repercussions all right Shipmates what are your thoughts on this story let us know in the comment section below did the Chiefs deserve what they got or should the Navy do something different in the future also let me know how many sailor references you caught in this video I'll shout out the winner in our next security story but to see if you won or if you enjoyed this story and like to see more remember to like the video and subscribe to the E security Planet channel also click the bell for notification so you can be notified when we launch new videos thanks for watching I'm Davin Jackson and until next time keep it Fair Winds and following Seas

This transcript was generated automatically from the video's captions and may contain errors.