Why is Sensitive US Military Data on an iPod?

I'm with SoBe: WTF?

Talk about your security breaches: A New Zealand man bought a used MP3 player for $15 only to discover it came with 60 pages of sensitive U.S. military data:

The files Ogle found on the MP3 player contain the names and personal details of US soldiers, including some who served in Afghanistan and Iraq. There are no details on exactly how many personal records are contained within the documents (most of which date back to 2005), but they also have information on mission briefings and equipment deployment.

This incident is probably not the worst breach of military data in recent memory. [...] Still, Ogle's situation is a bit bizarre in that no one knows how or why this sensitive information was stored on an iPod, or how that MP3 player slipped out to a used hardware vendor. According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), some of the phone numbers from the MP3 player's records still work, and the identified individuals indeed picked up on the other end.

"The more I look at it, the more I see and the less I think I should be [seeing]," Mr Ogle told ABC. He says he will hand the player over to the US Defense Department should it ever ask.

WTF? You mean, they haven't asked?

This is one of those stories that inspires me to write foily fiction. What do you think is going on here? My first guess is that someone on our team is selling data to 'the enemy.' Like, a contractor.

Comments

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.

Read Gibson's latest

Sppok Country has an iPod MacGuffin for the clandestine transfer of data. See the shamelessly viral marketing site.

"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi

oh, come on ... you expect people who lose 1,000 LAPTOPS

a year to keep up with a dinky little I-pod? Honestly.

/ snark

Sounds like something that an OIG should be on like white on rice, but what do I know?


We can admit that we’re killers … but we’re not going to kill today. That’s all it takes! ~ Captain James T. Kirk, Stardate 3193.0

1 John 4:18