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US Army Files Found On Second-Hand MP3 Player
MichaelSmith writes "A New Zealand man who bought a second hand MP3 player from a store in the US found it loaded with the names and personal details of American soldiers, as well as a mission briefing and information about equipment.
Chris Ogle says he will return the unit to the US Defense Department if asked, and that it never worked as a music player anyway.
A
slightly different version of the story is available from TVNZ."
I really doubt that the US Army is going to try and punish an innocent New Zealander for trying to do the right thing.
Although I guess I'm not sure that announcing this to the news was "the right thing."
If the military is not smart enough to purchase this item from the person and investigate how and who placed those files on this player then security is an afterthought and obviously flawed. This type of information couldn't have been obtained by a low level recruit either but someone higher in the chain of command. Either the FBI or the CIA should look into this without military oversight so there is no chance of influence. I doubt it will happen but I hope they do.
My guess is that like so much stuff found in second hand shops near bases, the MP3 player was stolen from the previous owner and sold for beer money. The files on it probably weren't classified or particularly sensitive and the previous owner was using it as a fancy thumb drive.
I read the internet for the articles.
You can find secret information on wikipedia. After getting out of the service I decided to see if certain details were on certain pages and found the secret information. There is probably much more throughout the entire site that seems quite benign but it is still classified.
"I really doubt that the US Army is going to try and punish an innocent New Zealander for trying to do the right thing."
Unfortunately, "doing the right thing" does not protect one from bureaucrats. When someone in a suit wants someone punished, they will find a target, even if it happens to be the person who did "the right thing." My favourite example of this was a woman who worked for a mid-sized company as an accountant. She noticed something questionable on the books and reported it to her boss. Her boss told her to ignore it and proceed. She knew that her boss was dodging the IRS and, not wanting to be a party to tax evasion, she reported the company to the IRS and quit. The IRS began an investigation and found, sure enough, the company was illegally avoiding paying taxes. The company, of course, used every method to dodge the IRS. The IRS, having lost their obvious target, decided to use a different tactic and elected to go after the accountant who was working for the company at the time the questionable events took place.
The woman who reported the situation to them.
The IRS ceased her home and garnished her wages (from her new job) to pay off the outstanding taxes. Doing the right thing resulted in this woman being screwed, to say the least.
Yes, this is an extreme example and it's also an example of the old IRS (they've apparently had their power to abuse people reduced since then - this story took place ten or 15 years ago, iirc). But, it is still an example of someone doing the right thing yet still being turned into a target so that someone in a suit can punish _someone_.
Link or it didn't happen
This would also make a good cover for spies.
It works like this:
1. Spy fills MP3 player with classified information.
2. Spy drops off MP3 player at local second hand shop.
3. Handler buys MP3 player.
4. Profit!
One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
A guy in my local (sorry, no citations) was sent an indecant image of (obviously) a child, and called teh police. They duely arrived, took a look at it, and took the guy out of the room.
"Ok Sir, i'm going to go out the front door and close it behind me. Before I knock on your door again, that picture will have been deleted from your computer and you'll have forgotten about it. IF you mention it, i'll have to arrest you for posession of an indecent image of a minor."
Even the cops think things like this are best swept under the carpet.
Disclaimer: UK Law, YMMV
Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
See, that's why this guy waited until Bush was out of office :)
For best results, avoid doing stupid things.