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."

Comments

What scares me more

[Shivetya]

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?