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Auditors Report FBI Fails in Tracking Lost Laptops
An anonymous reader writes "The Department of Justice's Office of Inspector General is reporting that the FBI has lackluster performance when it comes to tracking data lost on missing laptops. In a recent 44-month audit (ending in Sept. 2005), the FBI reported 160 lost or stolen machines. Of those, ten were confirmed to have sensitive info. A startling 51 of these machines had unknown information — in other words the FBI never knew what they lost. Some of these machines likely contained some of the most sensitive security information the FBI has, as there were several in the bunch that belonged to members of the Counterintelligence and Counterterrorism Divisions. But the FBI was never able to properly respond to these losses because someone didn't fill out the right paperwork. The OIG has a copy of the audit (pdf) for public consumption."
or is there an emerging criminal organization that targets laptops for the data they contain instead of for the hardware itself. It could be much more profitable to hold the data hostage rather than flip the laptop for whatever crappy amount you could get on ebay or at the local pawn shop.
Have there been any intensive studies that attempt to show what happens to stolen laptops?
Monstar L
Alright I can see how this could be a problem. But why is no one asking who the hell keeps losing their laptops or having their laptops stolen. I can see it happening, but those numbers seem kind of excessive, especially 10 with senstive data. For some reason I would't be surpised if they are being sold to some source. Because, I've never lost a laptop, nor has anyone I've ever known. I've broken them sure...but cmon.
In a world of acronyms, the words are the real victims.
is that many people want the government to have even more control over our lives, mainly health care and retirement. Look, this is the FBI, if they cannot keep track of sensitive data how in hell can we trust another government organization to do better?
The problem with government entities is that Congress never writes laws that punish them. Corporations sure, if a corporation lost "sensitve customer data" you can be sure of howls in Congress and a rash of new laws punishing "evil" corporations. When its the government they turn their heads.
Accountability is the one thing the government has always lacked and the one thing they seem to want from everyone else, you, me, and any other non-government entity.
They should be held to higher standards than ANY corporation, school, or private organization. We entrust them with our lives, shouldn't they be required to prove they can handle that trust?
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
How does this compare to other agencies and companies? 160 over an almost four year period sounds like a lot, but the FBI has over 21k laptops according to the story. That's about 0.76%, or about 0.19% per year. Is this higher than what most companies lose?
The data on the laptops is more worrying. But I wonder when they use the term "sensitive" exactly what that means? Does having the name of the agent on the laptop mean it's sensitive? It'd be different if they spelled out whether the information was classified and to what level.
-dave
/., where "Apple and Google provide Iran with nukes" will be refuted with "But Microsoft is a convicted monopolist"
Lost Laptops Scare Daylights Out Of My PHB's
I'm not a PHB, but I have the strong opinion that NO, ZERO, ZIP, NADA data should be stored on ANY portable device. This includes CDs, floppys, USB sticks, laptops. Whatever.
Important data should reside on a backed up, physically secure place like a data server. Remote access to that should be through encryped and secure channels.
I'm not asking for instances of moronic behavior here, but would anybody in there right mind carry around a filing cabinet that has things like your mother's maden name, SSN, passwords, copies of keys to your house, car, safety deposit box, etc, etc, and then get concerned if you lose the thing or it gets stolen?
No sane person would do that. But apparently this is status quo with government agencies and businesses.
In a recent 44-month audit (ending in Sept. 2005), the FBI reported 160 lost or stolen machines. Of those, ten were confirmed to have sensitive info. A startling 51 of these machines had unknown information -- in other words the FBI never knew what they lost.
I just crumpled up my tinfoil hat and threw it away. I'm more scared of little sister kicking me in the balls than whatever "big brother" could do.
These guys remind me of a quote by a psychologist that said something like "We don't know what we are doing, but we are doing it very carefully".