On-Call-IT Assists In Government Data Destruction

covaro writes "Seems those on-site computer services may be helping to cover up government dirty deeds these days. The Wall Street Journal reports: 'Investigators learned that [Office of Special Counsel head Scott Bloch, who has been under investigation since 2005] erased all the files on his office personal computer late last year. They are now trying to determine whether the deletions were improper or part of a cover-up, lawyers close to the case said ... Bypassing his agency's computer technicians, Mr. Bloch phoned for Geeks on Call, the mobile PC-help service ... Bloch had his computer's hard disk completely cleansed using a "seven-level" wipe: a thorough scrubbing that conforms to Defense Department data-security standards. The process makes it nearly impossible for forensics experts to restore the data later.'"

Comments

Re:Why not just by a new hard disc

[cab15625]

Or a screw-driver followed by steel wool on the platters.

BTW, nitric acid would likely be more effective than sulphuric. And a mix of nitric and hydrochloric (commonly known as aqua regia) will probably do an even better job. The nitric acts as an oxidizing agent while the hydrochloric can help complex some of the resulting metal ions making the mixture more effective. Sulphuric would probably just get rid of some of the organic coatings in the time that it would take the aqua regia to chew through all the metals.

I broke the cardinal rule...

[stormguard2099]

and actually RTFA. The article's focus is not on how they are paying too much to get rid of their tracks like half of the comments are about. the real issue is that a higher-up called a private business to handle it for him instead of using his own IT department. Yes, they ran a 7-level wipe on it but he claims he wasn't trying to remove data. His reason for the call was a virus, or so he claims. Suspicious? Sure, it's possible that something like that is required by regulations for his department but I would think there would be something against people using private IT businesses for company machinery, especially considering the hefty pricetag (charged as a business expense no less)

He also directed Geeks on Call to erase laptop computers that had been used by his two top political deputies, who had recently left the agency.

Jeff Phelps, who runs Washington's Geeks on Call franchise, declined to talk about specific clients, but said calls placed directly by government officials are unusual. He also said erasing a drive is an unusual virus treatment. "We don't do a seven-level wipe for a virus," he said. Those just puts the icing on the cake as far as suspicious activities in my book.

Simple answer

[billcopc]

Let's suppose for a moment that whatever was on that hard drive would prove him guilty of all charges; the penalty for that would be severe, like a stiff fine and jail time.

Now let's suppose he did a good job of destroying all the evidence, now he can only be tried for destroying evidence, which is pretty bad, but perhaps not as bad as whatever it is he actually did.

If you were wanted for heinous crimes against humanity (I don't know uhh... biological warfare!), and the only person with any proof winds up dead at your hands, you just need to defend yourself against the murder charge.

Re:Two words...

[ScrappyLaptop]

but...he also had them wipe the drives of several underling's laptops as well...and if he really had a virus, why not just call his own IT (the one's that said, "we don't do a level-7 for viruses we just reimage")...?

Thirty years ago, there was a huge uproar about some guy erasing a few minutes of tape. Nowadays, politicians get away with destroying evidence while under investigation...and the media doesn't even raise a stink. He who controls the media, indeed.

Re:Two words...

[apparently]

and that's your perfect answer "Oops I'm sorry, I wanted to make sure my virus had gone.

That's the polar opposite of the perfect answer. This is a government computer we're talking about. End-users aren't to be performing maintenance, contracting out maintenance, or any other such notion. The idea of "oops, I must've got a virus" complete bullshit: any IT department worth its paycheck has ensured their systems are virus-proof. In the event that a virus did manage to make its way through, mandatory SOP would be for the in-house shop to determine how security was compromise, the extent of the damage, and ensure that the issue has been resolved properly. Now take that up a notch for government systems, and "oops!" is far from a perfect excuse.

This fucker needs to be investigated.