doubleplusundead

June 06, 2008

afghans stealing equipment from our military bases

Is there some reason why this is happening? I mean, this isn't even a new problem apparently, and that it isn't as big an issue as it once was. One of the biggest problems is the local Afghans have been getting their hands on thumb drives with sensitive information. You can go to the shops outside of bases in Afghanistan and easily pick up uniforms and other US military gear.

Usually, the culprits are Afghans who are permitted to work at US bases in Afghanistan, they're also stealing shipping containers, which sometimes carry weapons and sensitive materials. The coalition is trying to support local businesses and entrepreneurs in Afghanistan, but it clearly is coming at a high cost. Among the things they've stolen, thumb drives with information on servicemen and deployment, including social security numbers and other personal information, schematics and informations about weapons systems there, and information on experimental vehicles have all been recovered in Afghan shops.

The military has got to get this under control, either get the Afghan contractors under control, bring in trustworthy contractors, or do everything yourselves.

Geoff brings up a good point, looks like we're gonna see heads roll at the upper levels of the Air Force for their security failures, are there gonna be more for this?

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 10:24 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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1 This is the result of cutting the military to the point where almost all logistics are contracted out. Without substantial increases in manpower, this will continue.

The loss of classified info/gear is, however, inexcusable, and someone should be hammered.

Posted by: MCPO Airdale at June 06, 2008 10:44 AM (yKHMC)

2 Yeah, I mean the thumbdrives with sensitive info are the most unnerving, and only a few of those were even password protected. Not that some hacker couldn't find a way through that anyway, but c'mon, at least put a damn pass on it.

Posted by: doubleplusundead at June 06, 2008 11:10 AM (ZuzXA)

3 This was irritating to hear about a few years ago, but now it's unacceptable. I think Gates' example of the Air Force needs to be repeated here.

Posted by: geoff at June 06, 2008 11:16 AM (pGLJ6)

4 The haxors would probably have a hard time with these thumb drives.

"Passwords can be hacked, but not the IronKey. It's built to withstand attacks both virtual and physical. 10 incorrect password attempts, and the encryption chip self-destructs, making the contents of the flash drive totally unreadable. The contents of the drive are filled with epoxy, so if a hacker tries to physically access the chips, he'd more likely damage them instead. Even if he did get access to the memory chips, they'd be worthless without the encryption chip. Electron-shielded, even a scanning electron microscope can't get inside."

Hopefully the mil is using something like that.

Posted by: Sockless Joe at June 06, 2008 11:30 AM (YHjxq)

5 Hmm...never heard of those. I have one old thumb drive that only occasionally gets used, and I don't put anything on there that I'd care about getting lifted, so I'm out of loop on those things. I'd say the answer is no on whether they use those, and even if they do, doesn't look like most of their stuff is pass protected.

Posted by: doubleplusundead at June 06, 2008 11:38 AM (ZuzXA)

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