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Unclean Military Hard Drives Sold On eBay

An anonymous reader writes "The Daily Mail reports, 'Highly sensitive details of a US military missile air defense system were found on a second-hand hard drive bought on eBay. The test launch procedures were found on a hard disk for the THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) ground to air missile defense system, used to shoot down Scud missiles in Iraq. The disk also contained security policies, blueprints of facilities, and personal information on employees (including social security numbers) belonging to technology company Lockheed Martin — who designed and built the system.' Scary that they did not wipe it to Department of Defense standards, which I believe is wiping the whole disk and then writing 1010 all over it."

12 of 369 comments (clear)

  1. In other news.. by __aanmys7397 · · Score: 5, Funny

    ..the market is being flooded with Chinese made ground to air missile defence systems, available for a quarter of the price, and half the accuracy.
    Fine Print: THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR THE SYSTEM, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW

  2. Re:please... by sakdoctor · · Score: 5, Funny

    In the UK, the government uses magnetic fields generated by train seats to erase sensitive data.

  3. Re:I have to wonder by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Your comment is utterly devoid of value unless you can prove you have something worthwhile to respond with. Good luck!

  4. Nearly right... by LoyalOpposition · · Score: 5, Funny

    scary that they did not wipe it to Department of Defense standards which I believe is wiping the whole disk and then writing 1010 all over it.

    That's nearly right. The actual procedure is to wipe it to DoD standards, and then load it up with fake documents.

    -Loyal

    --
    I aim to misbehave.
  5. Is it just me... by s0litaire · · Score: 4, Funny

    Or are these types of stories probably sponsored by E-Bay's PR department..

    Just think of all those people now bidding on old hard drives now... Probably won't be able to pick one up for under £99 by the end of the week :D

    That reminds me... Got a few old ones to sell myself... :D:D

    --
    Laters Sol "Have you found the secrets of the universe? Asked Zebade "I'm sure I left them here somewhere"
  6. Re:Unclean? by Mendoksou · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's finally time to start up my competitor to the NSA. The American Security Service (acronym to be determined) will, for the cost of hard drives on ebay (as well as some key other components... you never know what might be hidden in all those GPUs... we'd better test them. And those CPUs... and that RAM... and those computer games...), provide quality security and defense against our enemies. Especially if those enemies happen to be in the games I'm playing at the time.

    --
    DISCLAIMER: I am very rarely serious. If the above comment seems asinine makes no sense, it is most likely a bad joke.
  7. A+++++ Vendor! by xonar · · Score: 5, Funny

    A++++++++++++ service! Quick shipping, and free military secrets included! Would buy from again.

  8. Re:I have to wonder by sadness203 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Your comment is so fat it was... oh ... no, wrong joke.

  9. Re:Unclean? by NotQuiteReal · · Score: 5, Funny

    Aww, you just went for a cheap laugh.

    When you said The American Security Service (acronym to be determined) I thought for sure, you were going to start a wiping service!

    --
    This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
  10. Re:For Highly Classified Data, it's more than a wi by jandoedel · · Score: 5, Funny

    ?? why would sandblasting an intern help in wiping the disk?

  11. Re:Unclean? by Nathrael · · Score: 4, Funny

    Fire is best and most useful but other methods are possible.

    Nuke it from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

    --
    A good education is a bit like a STD - it makes you unsuitable for a lot of jobs and gives you a desire to spread it.
  12. Re:DoD wiping standards by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Funny

    What if you had memory issues with your brain and thus have a prosthetic memory installed to help you?

    What if the aliens came, and took you back to your home planet?

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"