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MI6 Terror Photos, Data Accidentally Sold On Ebay
Barence writes "In what's turning out to be a bad week for security in the UK, confidential MI6 documents, fingerprints and photos relating to suspected Al-Qaeda terrorists have been found in the memory of the second-hand Nikon Coolpix camera, which was bought on eBay for only £17. The buyer immediately went to the police, who initially treated it as a joke; when they realised he was serious, they swooped on his home and seized his camera and PC. Remember, this is the same MI6 which plans to recruit new members via Facebook, a userbase not exactly famous for its dedication to privacy, security and discretion. The news comes on the back of yesterday's embarrassment over a local council whose VPN device ended up on eBay with confidential login details left on it."
4th paragraph:
"However, the police subsequently descended on the man's home, seizing his computer and camera equipment."
His computer was seized as he downloaded the files, The Register has more info.
"The only constant in the universe is change." - Unknown author
I hope they intend to replace it
TFA: "The police have reportedly replaced the seized equipment, at a cost of £1,000."
Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
And we all know since there's no specification for EXIF data that someone who has a vested interest in removing it would be unable to figure it out.
I strongly suspect that the computer was used to look at the photos, which means it downloaded them, which means that it had classified information on it, so of course they seized it.
I hope he had an offsite backup.
What the summary leaves out is that they seized his equipment and then "reportedly replaced the seized equipment, at a cost of £1,000." So it's not like they grabbed it and ran. If he got proper return on what was taken, then it doesn't sting so much. MI6 still look like idiots though.
A clarification: the cost of replacement equipment was £1,000, not $1,000.
Tasers work!
Just the other day there was a man on a ledge and the police were afraid he'd jump.
He wouldn't come down, so they Tasered him!
He came down quickly after that, I assure you. http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080925/world/stun_gun_death_2
As has been mentioned many, many times above, the computer equipment is important, but it's the *data* on said equipment that contains the real value. Did they replace the data as well as the computer, or did they just provide him with a new computer? No matter how nice the machine, I for one would still be extremely pissed if all the photos of my family, the music I have written and recorded, ten years' worth of programming work, etc. were suddenly taken away and not replaced.
As for everyone screaming "make backups!!!", that may not be sufficient. For example, I *do* make backups but they are on a second hard drive inside my desktop computer. Some of the data is also backed up to a second computer sitting about three feet from my desktop, but did anyone think that perhaps the police took *every* computer in this guy's house -- not just one? Not everyone -- and this is especially true for those who don't work with computers for a living -- has access to off-site backup computers.
MCSE? No, sir...I don't do Windows. Yes, I am an idealist. What's your point?
Note to whomever at MI6: next time, boot to linux cd; man wipe; man dd. Hint: you will probably find the following helpful -
/dev/usb/[stupidfsckingcamera]
wipe -rfc
and just for grins and giggles -
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/usb/[stupidfsckingcamera] bs=4096
Or, better yet, decide that recouping a few quid on ebay isn't worth it, and just destroy the damn camera.
I prefer rogues to imbeciles because they sometimes take a rest.