Originally posted on February 12, 2007 @ 7:33 pm
Three to four laptops are lost or stolen from the FBI every month, according to a report issued this month from the Justice Department’s Inspector General.
While 116 FBI laptops were reported lost and 44 were reported stolen in the last 44 months, the agency is doing better than it was five years ago, the DOJ’s audit said of one of the nation’s top investigative agencies.
Another audit, conducted in 2002, showed that in a 28-month period 300 FBI laptops had been lost and 17 had been stolen.
At least seven of the computers were issued to FBI divisions that handle some of the most sensitive information related to national security.
Six were assigned to the Counter-Intelligence Division and one was assigned to the Counter-Terrorism Division, yet the FBI did not know what these computers contained, including whether or not they held sensitive or classified information.
Don’t you feel all warm and fuzzy now? Not me. Read on…
According to the DOJ audit report:
This is a significant deficiency. Some of these laptops may have contained classified or sensitive information, such as personally identifiable information or investigative case files.
Without knowing the contents of these lost and stolen laptop computers, it is impossible for the FBI to know the extent of the damage these losses might have had on its operations or on national security.
The missing laptops include one that was reported stolen from a Boston field office that contained software for creating identification badges. Reports say it was encrypted.
Another laptop was reported stolen from the FBI’s own security division.
While it too was encrypted, it contained a system security plan for an electronic access control system.
However, it’s not known if a laptop stolen from the FBI Academy at the U.S. Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia was encrypted. That machine contained the names, addresses, and telephone numbers for FBI personnel.
I don’t know about you my loyal and dedicated readers but what little faith I have in the United States government after reading this report is disappearing quite fast.