Military Secrets for Sale on Stolen USB Drives 225
nTrfAce writes "Per a BBC Article, "US forces in Afghanistan are checking reports that stolen computer hardware containing military secrets is being sold at a market beside a big US base.
Shopkeepers at a market next to Bagram base, outside Kabul, have been selling memory drives stolen from the facility, the Los Angeles Times newspaper says.""
Strong encryption (Score:4, Insightful)
I hope that those soldiers were not storing sensible data on those drives.
I hope that those soldiers were not storing weird photos involving prisoners
Real world tends to be different from hopes!
Why? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Strong encryption (Score:5, Insightful)
If soldiers have been abusing prisoners, I'd prefer them to photograph themselves doing it and then store those photographs on disks which are later stolen and leaked to the press.
Otherwise, how will we ever know what our armed representatives abroad are doing in our names?
Re:Why? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Why? (Score:5, Insightful)
Most likely it's just sneakernet; moving files from laptop to PC etc. After transferring the files they forget to wipe the USB stick. The army will probably try to stop this by mandating it not be done. Which will work for a while till troops rotate and a new batch come in. The only real solution is to physically disable USB ports, which would be difficult with the number of legitimate USB peripherals now. Otherwise everything needs to be transparently encrypted. The military fears losing access to critical data in battle more than possible security breaches though.
why/when. (Score:5, Insightful)
Here in the Netherlands, there has been a series of cases where sensitive information has leaked through stolen/lost hardware, and every time some official was breaking the rules.
The rules were unworkable: DO NOT TAKE YOUR WORK HOME.
So, no reading of a report on the train, no after-dinner report writing. Nothing. Ambitious people break the rules to perform better. So they take stuff home anyway. As long as the hardware doesn't get stolen, nothing is noticed. Big publicity when sensitive information makes it to the press.
But if they were to start policing the policy, a lot of the ambitious people would eventually give in to the rules, and simply watch tv after dinner, and read the newspaper on the train. Results? Productivity drop.
Amusing comment in _Slate_ (Score:3, Insightful)
SSNs (Score:2, Insightful)
Everybody knows your SSN. Every employer you've had, every school you've been to, everybody you've applied for credit from, every company that's provided a service like long distance to you. Also, every firm any of those organizations have contracted out their data handling to.
Fewer people know what shoe size you wear.
The hardware was STOLEN (Score:1, Insightful)
Certain government organisations have really bad networks and capacities to move documents from one person's PC/laptop to another which is why people inside use USB keys.
Also when you are at certain level you are allowed to take your work home or work from home, and some of the laptops given out to such employees leave a lot to be desired in performance which is why people email documents to themselves or copy files to USB keys.
A blind eye is turned to all this unless of course something gets lost and leaked to the papers.
Re:why/when. (Score:5, Insightful)
I personally disagree, in my experience you actually in the longer term get a productivity increase. Why ? because the people are more relaxed and more refreshed with a balanced lifestyle that isn't all "work work work". People who constantly take work home are marters to the job or just really bad at planning.
Re:Missing Classified Hard Drives (Score:2, Insightful)
Mod Proust Funny (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Strong encryption (Score:3, Insightful)
For example, would you have me read British news concerning America? Iranian? French? Libyan? German? How am I, the ignorant American, supposed to know which ones are truly impartial, and which ones are putting their Anti-/Pro-American spin on the news, just like the news companies here in America?
Re:Strong encryption (Score:5, Insightful)
We just assume they are secrects (Score:2, Insightful)
We'll find out on CNN sometime that the drives contained Osama's location, Sadam's smoking gun, Slobadan Milosevich's memoirs, and Jimmy Hoffa's remains...oh, and the location of Salmon Rushdie's appartment that he shares with Elvis, the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot.
Re:Amusing comment in _Slate_ (Score:2, Insightful)
Far enough to make it worth the informant's while I'd guess.
Re:Why? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Strong encryption (Score:2, Insightful)
I didn't, and neither did approximately half of US voters.
How is the military carrying out his commands not representative of you? You don't get off that easily.
I hope that someday you are personally blamed for the actions of your government, too, you jerk.
Re:We just assume they are secrects (Score:2, Insightful)
It a war torn region like Afghanistan, it is no secret who is corrupt in the government, and it's no secret where military strikes are going to happen. The bottom line is that the media is turning routine military information into something more than it is and creating scandal where there should just be a little tightening of the reigns. I'm not saying that it's not a bad situation to have people thieving those thumb drives. I am saying that we are believing exactly what we are reading from a second / third hand source and that's a no-no. The LA Times, BBC, and AP for that matter are reporting on something that they know will appear terrible on first glance (that sells newspapers and tv time). If it is as bad as they reported, I will eat my own shoe when the congressional hearings commence.
What really happened (Score:2, Insightful)
"What?"
"Would you like to buy a usb drive?"
"No, leave me along."
"Wait, buddy. See that US base over there?"
"Yeah, so? This usb drive came from that base."
"Really?"
"Yes. Contains important US government data."
"I'll take it!!"
----
Takes drive home to find that it contains:
Three love letters.
One Word Doc. (A memo requestion vacation time.)
And a copy of solitaire.exe.