You can find a lot of odd things on the hard drive of an old computer. Long forgotten school assignments, that Kelly Clarkson mp3 you played everyday for a week 4 years ago and never listened to again, highly classified missile defense system information. Wait, what?
British newspaper The Guardian is reporting that a used personal computer that was sold over the internet contained sensitive information from defense contractor Lockheed Martin. Found on the computer was a document detailing test launch procedures, blueprints of facilities, and photos and personal data (including Social Security numbers) for Lockheed employees.
According to The Guardian, the computer was bought online during a global hard drive survey conducted jointly by Longwood University in Virginia, Glamorgan University in the United Kingdom, and Edith Cowan University in Australia. The survey's purpose is to bring public attention to the identity theft risk in carelessly discarded computer equipment.
Glenn Dardick of Longwood University, who analyzed the hard drive's contents before turning it over to the FBI, described the PC's contents as "manna from heaven to hackers." If that description isn't disconcerting enough, Dardick went on to pose this disturbing rhetorical question: "If this is out there, then it does beg the question: what else is out there?"
Information found on the computer had to do with Lockheed's work on the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, an off-shoot of Ronald Reagan's famous (or infamous, depending on your perspective) Star Wars program. The THAAD system is an anti-missile defense system that is designed to destroy incoming warheads from about 93 miles above the Earth, according to army-technology.com. So yeah, it's not exactly like the only things found on this computer were Donald Rumsfeld's Bible memos. Of course, people can't even agree that the careless dissemination of defense information is a cause for major concern.
"This is a horrible violation of privacy," Peter Zimmerman, Emeritus Professor of Science and Security at King's College London told The Guardian. "If it fell into the wrong hands, then it opens up the possibility of a range of blackmail options. You could use this to glean a lot of intelligence. I would not be happy if this fell into anyone's hands."
Lockheed Martin for their part, are either blissfully unaware of the breach or simply not that concerned. "Lockheed Martin is not aware of any compromise of data related to the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense program. In addition, no governmental or law enforcement agency has notified us of any such data loss," a company spokesperson told The Guardian. So just to be clear here, it seems that the only people on three continents not aware of this major security leak are the defense contractor whose information was leaked. Well, at least the federal government is handing out contracts to companies that run a tight ship. When it comes to public relations, these people make Blackwater look competent.
Cases like this help prove the point that cyber-security, the newest frontier in the national security battle, is not just limited to protecting access to classified data by software means. The fact that a piece of hardware containing highly sensitive information could so easily be procured by those without the proper credentials speaks volumes of how seriously some government contracted companies take their work. Some might say that the onus is on Lockheed Martin to properly secure this information; others would say that the responsibility lies with the federal government to do business with groups that wouldn't commit such a gaffe. In this whole mess, at least one thing is for certain: President Obama better think twice before selling his old BlackBerry on eBay.
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