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."

Comments

Fuck the police

[Hatta]

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.

This is why you never talk to the police.

Re:Fuck the police

[slug359]

4th paragraph:

"However, the police subsequently descended on the man's home, seizing his computer and camera equipment."

Re:Fuck the police

[DeadManCoding]

His computer was seized as he downloaded the files, The Register has more info.

Re:Fuck the police

[bestinshow]

1) They took his computer.

2) They replaced the equipment, at a cost of a grand. Whether or not this was a like-for-like replacement or better is unanswered.

Whether or not he got his personal data back is another question, as anyone knows it is the time invested in generating your own data that is the real value in your PC. I hope he had a backup.

Knowing the British police I expect he'll be arrested for some non-related data on the hard drive like some MP3s.

Re:Fuck the police

[sharperguy]

The buyer immediately went to the police, who initially treated it as a joke

I'll just type it up on my invisible typewriter.

Re:Fuck the police

[KeepQuiet]

He should leave negative feedback. That will teach them a lesson.

Re:Fuck the police

[Richard W.M. Jones]

This is why you never talk to the police.

Sadly you may be right, although for all the wrong reasons. In civilised parts of the world we recognise that society exists because of cooperation, and that includes cooperation with the police.

Unfortunately in cases like these, the police are undermining that cooperation. As another example, it's rumoured that if you report child porn on the internet to the relevant authorities in the UK, you should expect a visit from the coppers and all your computer equipment to be taken away. Which is why I wouldn't report this, even though child abuse is a terrible thing and it should be reported.

Now, if I found "terror photos" (whatever they are) on a second hand laptop or camera, I won't be reporting that either. Just scrubbing any info off the device and get on with my life.

Rich.

Re:Fuck the police

[Richard W.M. Jones]

Whether or not he got his personal data back is another question, as anyone knows it is the time invested in generating your own data that is the real value in your PC. I hope he had a backup.

It's OK, he can just buy them back when they turn up on ebay ...

Rich.

Re:Fuck the police

[harrkev]

You clearly know nothing about how the government deals with classified data. Classified data is considered kind of like a virus, not the computer kind, but the biological kind. If the classified data was in a memory card in the camera, the camera itself is contaminated. If the camera was plugged into a computer, then the computer itself is contaminated. Anything electronic device that the computer touched is then considered to be contaminated. Even if you "KNOW" that it is not possible for your mouse to story encrypted data, your mouse is still assumed to be contaminated. This type of "blanket" policy that makes no exceptions is actually pretty smart, as it is the exceptions that will come back and bite you in the butt.

This is the way that the US government does things in real life (and presumably the UK does the same thing). When developing systems that handle classified data, you have to maintain strict "red/black" separation, and the only interface allowed between red and black are things like *APPROVED* encryption units.

Things are actually a little more complicated than this, but this is the general idea.

Re:Fuck the police

[ultranova]

Anything electronic device that the computer touched is then considered to be contaminated.

Well, since the computer was likely connected to the Internet, we're having a pandemic by now.

So I just have to wonder.

[LWATCDR]

Just how many people buy hard drives just to mine them for data?
1. Buy the drives on Ebay
2. Scan drives for valuable data.
3. Sell cleaned drives on Ebay and sell data to the highest bidder.
4. Profit.

Re:So I just have to wonder.

[JustKidding]

With just 2 people doing this, there would be a whole lot of clean drives going back and forth between them. You need something like a TTL to prevent a complete DoS.

Re:So I just have to wonder.

[NotBornYesterday]

That depends on your definition of "important". If by "important" you mean, has the most value to the person who received it, then I'd personally have to go with sex vids/pics. Those I can use right away, as often as I want, and then trade to get more nudie pics.

WTF am I going to use nuclear bomb codes for? I'm no longer in the nuclear blackmail business, and all my former henchmen are employed elsewhere. Mostly at Oracle and Microsoft. We still send each other xmas cards, and talk about getting together for a reunion, but it's hard to get all our schedules to line up, especially since most of us have young families now anyway. Back in the day when we were all single, it was easy to commit all our waking hours to work (building a massive underground fortress in a dormant volcano, etc.), but none of us really have the time anymore. Sigh. I guess you really can't go back to the glory days once they're gone.

Re:Note to self...

[Anonymous Coward]

... never do the police a favor in the UK.

But then again, in the US they would have tasered him for no reason.

You are badly misinformed. American police do NOT ever, under any circumstances taser people for no reason.

They taser them because it is funny.

No Good Deed...

[maz2331]

ever goes unpunished.

If someone comes to you, DO NOT attack them! Be nice, assist in getting any secret data purged, and sign a confidentiality agreement, and give the guy a nominal reward.

Raiding the house of someone who does the right thing is a pretty strong incentive to never help out again, and a strong incentive for others to do so as well. It also feeds the radical opponents' propaganda machine with fresh fodder and lets them become the "persecuted good guys".

So don't do it. Know who your friends are, and don't mess with them. Or they may stop being your friend.

Western societies and governments have enough enemies already, and there is no need to create any more.

Incidents

[Anonymous Coward]

17 September 2008 The Insolvency Service. Laptop containing personal details of 385 former directors of insolvent companies has been stolen. Greater Manchester Police are investigating the burglary, which happened on 28 August. The Insolvency Service said 385 ex-company directors had been affected and also about 150 people with a connection to the firms. Information on the company directors included name, address, date of birth and occupation. No bank account details were held. In relation to the creditors, complainants and employees, the data included name, address, and bank account details in a small number of cases.

16 September 2008.
NHS memory stick found in street. An NHS trust has apologised after a computer memory stick, containing the confidential files of 200 patients, was found in a street. It stored a summary of medical histories and patients' national insurance numbers and addresses.

Monday, 15 September 2008 18:19 UK.
Police admit to lost data blunder. A police force has undertaken an urgent hunt for a computer memory stick after admitting it has been lost by an officer on duty. A police force has undertaken an urgent hunt for a computer memory stick after admitting it has been lost by an officer on duty.

Monday, 15 September 2008 18:12 UK. Trust loses 18,000 staff records. Discs containing personal information on almost 18,000 NHS staff have gone missing from a north London hospital. Discs containing personal information on almost 18,000 NHS staff have gone missing from a north London hospital.

10 September 2008 11:34 UK
Up to 15,000 patients' data taken
Computer back-up tapes containing personal information on up to 15,396 patients at a surgery have been stolen. "There are 15,396 patients registered at the surgery and potentially information on all of them could be on the tapes.

27 August 2008 12:38 UK,
Health board lost patients' data
A health board has tightened its security measures after the loss of two memory sticks containing patient data.

27 August 2008 12:05 UK Taxpayers' details found on eBay. A Leicestershire council is investigating a report that a computer containing taxpayers' personal details was sold on auction website eBay. Bank account numbers and sort codes of people in the Charnwood Borough Council area were reportedly found after the equipment was sold for £6.99. Information including bank account numbers, telephone numbers, mothers' maiden names and signatures of customers of American Express, NatWest and the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) were reportedly found on the computer.

Thursday, 21 August 2008 22:56 UK
Company loses data on criminals

A contractor working for the Home Office has lost a computer memory stick containing personal details about tens of thousands of criminals. The lost data includes details about 10,000 prolific offenders as well as information on all 84,000 prisoners in England and Wales.

9 August 2008 13:06 UK
BBC sorry after TV data is stolen
The BBC has apologised after a memory stick containing the personal details of hundreds of children who had applied to take part in a TV show was stolen. Deverell also informed parents they could call a free helpline if they had concerns about the lost data - which included names, addresses, dates of birth and phone numbers.

29 July 2008 09:42 UK
Missing laptop data not 'at risk'
A laptop computer from the Citizens Advice Bureau in Coleraine has gone missing. The details of about 7,000 people were on the computer of an outreach worker from the voluntary group which was mislaid in transit.

Wednesday, 23 July 2008 14:17 UK
Surgery patients' data is stolen
Information on more than 3,500 patients at a surgery in Greater Manchester has been stolen, health bosses have said.

22 July 2008 20:56 UK
'Spying' requests exceed 500,000
More than 500,000 official "spying" requests for private communications data such as telephone records were made last year, a report says. Police, security services and other p

Re:Note to self...

[Anonymous Coward]

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

Re:His computer was classified

[dgatwood]

Yup. What did we learn, boys and girls? (Okay, I know I'm being optimistic on that last part.) If you find yourself with evidence related to a terrorism investigation because an inept government official sold it on eBay, don't go to the police. Send it to the media. Anonymously.

Re:His computer was classified

[Jabbrwokk]

Damn straight. People should not be punished for being honest.

Government agencies, however, should be publicly punished for being incompetent.

I imagine that if the man had given the camera to the media, the police could have swooped down on the news outlet and confiscated their computers, but then they would be in a much bigger fight with the Fifth Estate rather than some poor schlub who can't fight back.

Here's hoping the free press continues to stay free.