The Pentagon's explanation about why an unknown Florida company took over a giant slice of its internet leaves a key question unanswered
- A Florida company that took over a Pentagon-owned slice of the internet only stood up in September.
- The company also doesn't have experience in working with government contracts.
- The Pentagon has responded to the news, but has not answered why it chose such a new firm.
The Pentagon has responded to how a mysterious Florida company was able to take over a large chunk of government-owned internet.
In a statement on Friday, Brett Goldstein, the chief of the Pentagon's defense digital service, said federal officials are working to "assess, evaluate and prevent unauthorized use of DoD IP address space" and hopes to "identify potential vulnerabilities" in its fight to curb cyberattacks of US networks, according to the Associated Press.
However, it hasn't explained why it entrusted that work to a firm - identified as Global Resource Systems LLC, which is based in Florida and incorporated in Delaware - that appears to have just launched in September and that lacks experience working with government contracts, the AP reported.
About three minutes before former President Donald Trump's term ended on January 20, the company posted on a global platform that it had taken over a massive section of unused internet that was owned by the Department of Defense, which had chosen Global Resource Systems LLC to manage its address space.
It now controls about 175 million IP addresses, or roughly 1/25 of the world's internet space, per the AP.
"That is the biggest thing in the history of the internet," as one expert told the AP. It's also more than large internet companies like AT&T, Comcast, and China Telecom controls.
As the outlet notes, the company doesn't have a presence online, and per public records does not have a business license in Plantation, Florida, where it is based. The company filed paperwork in October, per Florida state records, detailing its incorporation in Delaware.
Reporters with the AP and The Washington Post visited the physical addresses listed under the company but were turned away without being given information.