Friday, May 08, 2009
THAAD
Whatever it is, you can get it on eBay, and that even applies to top-secret information on America’s missile defense system. A study sponsored by BT and Sims Lifecycle Services, and involving university researchers in the U.K., U.S. and Australia, discovered loads of secret, confidential or personal data on discarded computer hard drives sold through eBay, other online auction sites and flea markets. After examining 300 resold hard drives, researchers determined a third of them had information that probably should have been erased.
The most alarming of the uncovered files were those pertaining to the testing of a ground-to-air missile defense system known as THAAD, which the U.S. government hopes will be effective in shooting down long-range missiles attacks against American soil. THAAD was developed by Lockheed Martin, and the computer hard disk containing the test data also revealed security policies and blueprints of facilities for the company, along with personal information on employees. The defense contractor has denied that the disk came from it and has launched an investigation into how the sensitive information wound up for sale.
In addition to the missile data, the researchers found a disk from France that included security logs from the German embassy in Paris. Two hard drives from the U.K. contained patient medical records, images of x-rays, and sensitive and confidential staff letters from two hospitals. Yet another disk from an unnamed U.S.-based consultant, which had dealings with an American weapons manufacturer, revealed account numbers and details of proposals for a $50 billion currency exchange, as well as details of business dealings between organizations in Venezuela, Tunisia and Nigeria.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Missile Data Found on Hard Drives (BBC News)
Missile Data, Medical Records Found on Discarded Hard Disks (by John Leyden, The Register)
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