Source: Tom's Guide US | Keywords: USA, Military, Security, MP3 | Themes: Audio/Video Players
For the last several years, nary a month goes by without some corporation or government entity saying "Oops, we lost some sensitive data!" Usually, we find out what was lost before finding out who found it (or took it).
Not this time.
A few months back, Chris Ogle walked into an Oklahoma thrift store and purchased a used MP3 player for $18 (judging from the picture on Engadget, it was not an iPod). Upon bringing it home and connecting the device to his computer, the New Zealand native may have expected to find some second-hand music left over from the previous owner. Instead, he found 60 files whose point of origin was the U.S. military.
According to TVNZ, the files contained information on American troops currently serving in Afghanistan, as well as information on troops who had previously served in Iraq. The info on the device included active phone numbers, deployed equipment details, as well as information pertaining to specific soldiers, including Social Security numbers and medical records. Many of the folders on the device also contained a warning, saying dissemination of the enclosed info was punishable under U.S. Federal law.
While the safety of the world may not rest on the information contained in said MP3 player, this kind of irresponsibility regarding the personal information of U.S. troops is sure to cause a ruckus.
"One of the first rules of military endeavor is not to give the opposition anything whatsoever that they could use to compromise your position, in any way at all," says Peter Cozens, an expert on Strategic Studies at Victoria University. "This is just slack administrative procedures which are indeed a cause of embarrassment. And it's the sort of thing which ought not really to be in the public domain."
The U.S. government is not commenting on the matter.
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FAIL!
Why would they put that kind of information on AN MP3 PLAYER in the first place?
I suppose an MP3 player is a bit of an inconspicuous data storage device. So the use of it for data makes some amount of sense. But why the hell would you sell it, much less forgot to erase the data. Hell, even just deleting the data doesn't get rid of it.
But it makes me think, this may have been some type of drop point, for some other operative to pick up. Maybe even some one opposing the US government.
U.S Government fail -.-
i bet the following happened
"Sir, we ran out of our 1232372739239TB storage, what do we do?"
"Put it on an mp3 player..."
This sounds like something the Canadian Military would do...Except replace MP3 with 8-track
(Note: I am Canadian!)
No doubt, the Canadian military may be one of the best trained forces in the world, but is certainly also one of the worst funded. I don't think 386s can support MP3 players.
"One of the first rules of military endeavor is not to give the opposition anything whatsoever that they could use to compromise your position, in any way at all,"
New Zealand is the enemy!!! Its probably a recruiter who forgot they still had work files on it.
It may sound as if the Canadian Military... is a bit (softly said) "Behind" when it comes to "Technology", but they sure beat the US Military when it comes to field work-play. (US military lost a few consecutive times already to the Canadian military, when practicing closed quarter fight simulations. Usually the US troops are "Well" more high tech dressed up for this than the CND troops :S)
This also shows us that this files... were NOT encrypted at all, as the guy who bought the mp3 player
may be it got stolen
Gee ... I doubt the person whom put the files on it gave "IT Security much thought" ... like most of us (if we are honest with ourselves). This kind of stuff happens all the time and has been happening since forever. Only in the past it was some other medium than an MP3. I am not making an excuse, because if you violate security and get caught, expect to face consequences but I would be only surprised if this was an isolated incident.
It may sound as if the Canadian Military... is a bit (softly said) "Behind" when it comes to "Technology", but they sure beat the US Military when it comes to field work-play. (US military lost a few consecutive times already to the Canadian military, when practicing closed quarter fight simulations. Usually the US troops are "Well" more high tech dressed up for this than the CND troops :S)
The U.S Snipers beat out the canadian snipers
According to wikipedia:
So Canada has the longest confirmed sniper kill.
I figure it was some poor slob stationed overseas. He was in the national guard and got called up. He's been overseas for 15 months working in some boring logistics job. Every day he has some report to file with the CO at 10:00 am. Each day he wakes up downloads all the data from his email to his laptop. Then he transfers it to his mp3 player and throws it in his pocket so he doesn't have to lug around the lappy all day. Maybe he goes for a jog and hits the showers. Then one day he loses the MP3 player, shrugs, and buys a new one. Now, out of the blue, a couple years later the Feds are going to bust his door down and life as he knew it is over.
No doubt, the Canadian military may be one of the best trained forces in the world, but is certainly also one of the worst funded. I don't think 386s can support MP3 players.
I agree... Our Canadian troops do very well with the funding they get.
I would just like to say, I am a New Zealander. Chris Ogle is a New Zealander. We are not New Zealand Natives. NATIVES. I mean, its not like we eat each other... We don't say, oh, those American Natives do we.
And also, no, New Zealand is not the enemy, just some stupid guy that left some files on an mp3 player.