Data Breach Exposes RAF Staff To Blackmail

Yehuda writes "Wired reports, 'Yet another breach of sensitive, unencrypted data is making news in the United Kingdom. This time the breach puts Royal Air Force staff at serious risk of being targeted for blackmail by foreign intelligence services or others. The breach involves audio recordings with high-ranking air force officers who were being interviewed in-depth for a security clearance. In the interviews, the officers disclosed information about extra-marital affairs, drug abuse, visits to prostitutes, medical conditions, criminal convictions and debt histories — information the military needed to determine their security risk. The recordings were stored on three unencrypted hard drives that disappeared last year.'"

Comments

Re:It's no wonder...

[SlashWombat]

Really, no body expects anyone in the armed services to be as prudent as a politician might be. (Oh, wait a moment ...). Actually if you know many people in the Armed services, they routinely do the things that these people have admitted to on tape. It would have been more surprising if the people involved had claimed any differently. Even priests (eventually) admit to a bit of hanky panky every now and then. (Admittedly, generally with young boys ...)

Re:When were we a free society?

[TapeCutter]

Excellent post! I agree the "good old days" is nothing more than selective memory from old farts that is parroted by their children. When I was growing up in Australia during the 60's, Aborigines couldn't vote, you could be arrested for displaying a replica of the statue of David, certain books were banned, NEWS was heavily censored, conscription was a GoodThing(TM), gays and abortionists were thrown in jail, unmarried mother's were forced to give up their children at birth, couples "living in sin" were ostracised, etc, etc. The west really is a more humane place to live than it has ever been despite the best efforts of GWB and Howard to drag us back to the 1950's.

When the UK starts putting cameras inside every home and strapping rats to people faces then I might take the shrill panic of the 1984 crowd a bit more seriously.