Forwarded from: William Knowles <wkat_private> http://news.com.com/2100-1001-962664.html?tag=fd_top_5 By Reuters October 18, 2002, 5:21 PM PT The U.S. Pacific Fleet's warships and submarines were missing nearly 600 computers as of late July, including at least 14 known to have handled classified data, according to an internal Navy report obtained on Friday. The fleet, based in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, sought to prevent release of the Naval Audit Service report, even though it was not classified. "A release of this information could negatively impact national security," wrote Rear Adm. Jonathan Greenert, the fleet deputy commander in chief. His comments, dated Sept. 6, were contained in an appendix of the report. The audit service found "a serious risk that PCs containing sensitive and classified information have been lost or compromised, which presents a threat to national security and a potential embarrassment to the Department of the Navy." All 595 of the missing laptop and desktop computers featured removable hard drives, had been leased to the Navy, and were capable of processing classified information, the investigators said. The report, published in its final form this month, was obtained first by Defense Week, a trade paper that will publish its story on Monday. Defense Week made excerpts available to Reuters. The Navy declined comment on the current status of the missing computers or any other aspects of the matter. The audit dealt with only a small fraction of the Navy's computers. The Atlantic Fleet was not examined. And in the Pacific Fleet, shore facilities--where most computers are located--were not surveyed. "At least 595 personal computers, including at least 14 reported to be used for classified purposes, and possibly more, remained missing as of July 23 from afloat units" of the Pacific Command, the report said. "Data was not available as to how many of the remaining PCs were used for classified processing," added a footnote, leaving open the possibility that many more or all of those missing might have handled secret information. The auditors cited a breakdown in management of the leased computers and the lack of any system to track them. *==============================================================* "Communications without intelligence is noise; Intelligence without communications is irrelevant." Gen Alfred. M. Gray, USMC ================================================================ C4I.org - Computer Security, & Intelligence - http://www.c4i.org *==============================================================* - ISN is currently hosted by Attrition.org To unsubscribe email majordomoat_private with 'unsubscribe isn' in the BODY of the mail.
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