That story on the kid from Iceland apparently getting through to the President’s secret phone line includes this tidbit:

A White House official, who asked not to be identified, denied the young man had accessed a private number but instead dialled 202-456-1414, the main switchboard for the West Wing.

Vífill’s mother, Harpa Hreinsdottir, a teacher at the local high school, said her son did, in fact, get through to a private phone.

“This was not a switchboard number of any kind,” she told ABC News, “it was a secret number at the highest security level.”

Vífill claims he was passed on to several people, each of them quizzing him on President Grímsson’s date of birth, where he grew up, who his parents were and the date he entered office.

“It was like passing through checkpoints,” he said. “But I had Wikipedia and a few other sites open, so it was not so difficult really.”

That’s the security they do? It’s like asking a potential spy who won the World Series . . .



Now Playing: Episode 368

 
 Standard Podcast [33:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Terror in Mumbai, the collapse of Seattle banking and an update on the new Obama cabinet.

Links Mentioned: A timeline of the Mumbai carnage … SAM and WaMu … some early warning signs of trouble at the Seattle bank … Obama’s new Labor secretary?