FBI in the dark about its own lost laptops, DOJ report says
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The FBI has lost 160 laptops in 44 months, according to the inspector general for the  Department of Justice, which criticized the agency for losing the computers -- and for not knowing what secrets may have been kept on all of them.
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(InfoWorld) - The U.S. Commerce Department reported that 1,137 laptops have been lost or stolen since 2001, with 249 of them containing some degree of personal data. The department couldn't determine whose data may have been on the machines, of which 672 belonged to the Census Bureau. It wasn't aware of any data having being used improperly, it said Thursday. The findings are from a Commerce Department review covering 15 agencies that use a total of 30,000 laptops. It comes as businesses and governments try to tighten their control over mobile devices after several high-profile incidents concerning theÂ loss of sensitive data. The Census Bureau's laptops -- used for collecting census data in the field -- rarely contain data on more than 100 households, and the data can't be accessed by the surveyors, many of whom are temporary, hourly employees. the department said. However, the Census Bureau also lost 15 handheld computers used to gather survey data. As a result, the department is contacting 558 households. The risk of the data being misused was "extremely low," it said, since the data is encrypted and two passwords are required for access. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which falls under the Commerce Department, lost 325 laptops, three of which had personal data. One of the laptops was stolen after a fire at one of its buildings in Seattle, Washington. The machine contained addresses, birth dates and Social Security numbers for 146 employees, the department said. Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez said the agency plans toÂ strengthen accountability standards, encrypt data on all department laptops and implement two-factor authentication. U.S. government agencies have been stung by hardware losses in recent months. In May, aÂ laptop and external hard drive was stolenÂ from the home of a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs employee containingÂ data on 26.5 million veteransÂ and active-duty military personnel. The laptop was recovered, and two teenagers were arrested in June. Â
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(InfoWorld) - A government audit of four U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) centers found $6.4 million worth of missing or misplaced IT equipment, according to a report released Tuesday. Inventories in fiscal years 2005 and 2006 found about 2,400 missing IT devices at the four VA locations, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report said. Among the missing items were dozens of computers that could have stored personal information. The GAO also found computer hard drives being disposed containing the names, Social Security numbers, or medical histories of hundreds of U.S. military veterans. About 28 percent of the IT equipment at the VA medical center in Washington, D.C., was missing or misplaced, the GAO said. The missing equipment in the new GAO report is in addition to an earlier audit showing more than 8,600 missing IT items, with a combined original cost of $13.2 million, from five other VA centers, the GAO said. There is an "overall lack of accountability" for IT equipment at the VA locations, said McCoy Williams, director of financial management and assurance at GAO. The GAO found a "pervasive" lack of personal accountability at all four locations, he told the U.S. House of Representatives Veterans Affairs Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. "Missing IT items were not reported for several months and, in some cases, for several years," Williams told the subcommittee. In some cases, hard drives scheduled to be disposed of sat around for several years without being wiped clean, "creating an unnecessary risk that sensitive personal and medical information could be compromised," Williams added. The VA's IT practices have been the target of frequent criticism by U.S. lawmakers in recent years. The agency, in May 2006, reported that a laptop and hard drive containing the personal records of 26.5 million military veterans and family members was stolen from an employee's home. Police later recovered the equipment, and the VA said the records did not appear to be compromised. Subcommittee members called on the VA to improve its inventory management. "We know that VA has serious problems keeping track of its IT inventory," said Rep. Harry Mitchell, subcommittee chairman and Arizona Democrat. "This is not just a dollar issue. It is also a security and privacy issue." The VA is implementing new IT equipment management procedures and, after a three-month process, has found about 90 percent of the missing equipment, said Robert Howard, the VA's assistant secretary for information and technology. "The lack of accountability was clearly evident," said Howard, who became the agency's CIO in September 2006. "You shouldn't have to go through that to find your equipment." The VA has issued a new equipment handbook, and employees now have to sign for equipment in their control, Howard said. The VA has concurred on all 12 GAO recommendations for inventory management, VA officials said. The VA is also deploying network monitoring software that can scan for devices, Howard said. "This is a critically important issue," Howard said. "This is a situation of utmost importance. It is a situation we are working hard to remedy."
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The FBI failed to report accurately how many people it snooped on using anti-terror measures, officials said a government audit revealed today. Demands for banks and phone companies to hand over people's private information without telling them may also have gone beyond what is allowed by the Patriot Act, officials with access to the report told CNN.
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A PC drive offered for sale as new on eBay turned out to have come from the laptop of an Arkansas Democratic Party official -- and it still contained sensitive information when the buyer received it.
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Reports say desktop search interferes with other engines, but Justice Department isn't eager to reopen case.
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By DOUGLASS K. DANIEL  WASHINGTON - The Commerce Department has lost more than 1,100 laptop computers since 2001, most of them assigned to the Census Bureau, officials said Thursday night.  The Census Bureau, the main collector of information about Americans, lost 672 computers.
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In Dayton, a state employee returns to work to find a $2,000 computer stolen. In Cleveland, someone walks into an unlocked office and takes a $2,200 laptop belonging to the state auditor's office.
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A laptop drive offered for sale as new on eBay turned out to have come from the laptop of an Arkansas Democratic Party official -- and still contained sensitive information when the buyer received it.
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A portable hard drive that may contain the personal information of up to 48,000 veterans may have been stolen, the Department of Veterans Affairs and a lawmaker said Friday.
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A U.S. federal audit shows the FBI is losing fewer weapons and laptop computers but at least 10 of the computers missing contained classified information.
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he FBI underreported its use of the USA Patriot Act to force businesses to turn over customer information in suspected terrorism cases, according to a Justice Department audit
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The FBI, which has had trouble keeping track of its guns and laptops, also has a chronic problem paying its phone bills on time, according to audit results released yesterday.
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The U.S. Commerce Department has admitted that more than 1,100 laptop computers have gone missing in the last five years, including almost 250 from the Census Bureau.
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The legal eye Mark Rasch discusses the legal issues behind the discovery and recovery of stolen laptops that use LoJack-style homing devices to announce their location, and the location of the thieves, anywhere in the world.â¦
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A state government intern in Ohio last week lost a backup device that contained personal data on more than 64,000 state workers and tens of thousands of other people.
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The FBI and U.S. attorney's office are investigating the apparent theft of about &#36;350,000 in checks from a Democratic campaign committee, federal law enforcement and Democratic Party officials said Thursday.