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Subscribe to RSSThe Secret Service confirmed Friday that it lost two computer backup tapes in 2008 but said it knew of no fraud that had been committed using the information on them.
The tapes were left on a Washington Metro subway train in February 2008 by a contract employee who was taking them to a storage facility, the agency said in a statement. It said that the tapes weren't "marked or identified in any way" and that they couldn't be accessed without proper codes and equipment.
The inspector general's office of the Department of Homeland Security, to which the Secret Service reports, was notified of the loss at the time, the agency said.
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"The Secret Service complied with all guidelines related to loss of information," the agency said, but Fox News, which first reported the loss, quoted sources it didn't identify as disputing that claim and saying the inspector general had opened an investigation:
Sources said the "personally identifiable information" — or "PII," in government-speak — on the tapes includes combinations of the following: Social Security Numbers; home addresses; information about family members; phone numbers; dates of birth; medical information; bank account numbers; employment information; driver's license numbers; passport numbers; and any biometric information on file with the Secret Service. ...
Congressional and law enforcement sources told FoxNews.com that the Secret Service failed to comply with strict DHS-wide procedure for reporting and responding to privacy incidents where personally identifying information is lost, released or otherwise compromised.
In May, a Colombian escort claimed to be at the center of the Secret Service prostitution scandal. NBC's Mark Potter reports.
Congressional investigators and the Homeland Security inspector general are already reviewing the Secret Service for its handling of an incident in April, when 13 employees were implicated in a prostitution scandal during a presidential visit to Cartagena, Colombia, where President Barack Obama was visiting.
Eight of those Secret Service employees have been forced out of the agency and three were cleared of serious misconduct. At least two others were fighting to get their jobs back.
The inspector general's report into that incident is expected in the spring.
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Leave a Comment:
What about Obama's WH staff identified as soliciting foreign prostitutes? Was Bill Clinton in that group?
The Secret Service - after all of the past "awe sh!t$" over the years definitely wipes out any "Atta boys" they may have received - the agency title is now the newest Oxymoron!
There was passport information on the tapes? So what you're telling me is that somewhere out there may be the proof that I need to prove that Obama is from Kenya!!! Touche liberals, touche indeed. I shall find these tapes and demand a handsome ransom to not leak the information to the press. That's right Obama, I want full immunity for any instances that may or may not have happened that summer on my uncle's sheep farm when I was 16. Who's laughing now dad! Who's laughing now!!!
GA Jack,
well, with the # of oh craps this past 4 years, I figure the SS should be able to get themselves back in to good graces in....oh lets say 40 years, barring another 4 like the last 4.
Glad AF1 crew or Marine 1 isn't that pathetic or we would be down to a couple of crop dusters left in the military fleet.
I'm suprised they were even using computer tapes only four years ago. Saw them in past like 1970's.
Disks are better to use (smaller).
The tapes were not marked or identifiable? Were they Porn tapes to bring along for trips? Let's hope this is the case and not a national security item...........
Nope. Because the government never lies.
GA Bill,
No, they just forget the truth!
Tapes? 1972 called. They want their technology back.
A "tape" from a mainframe? Server? Perhaps they from the people that were attacked by the CIA in Indianapolis by the drone. Now they just disappeared and never existed.
Tape drives are still very cost effective and reliable means of backing up large amounts of data.
It was really the missing 18 minute tape from Nixon.
I doubt that anyone who finds them has the outdated technology to play them back.
It is not anything close to a VHS or audio cassette tape.
I just hope you realize that most modern companies still use tape storage solutions for their backup purposes. There's even still real research and development on them to increase the storage capacity of each individual tape cartridge.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tape_drive#Future_Capacity
Companies like Iron Mountain or SunGard still provide offsite tape storage, and make good money off of it.
High Tech = Low Security. 10,000 instances.
Tapes are still in use for backups of large systems. An LTO5 tape can hold 1.5tb of data. Backup servers collect data from backup clients and store that on tape. While backup to disk is slowly replacing that, it may be a while before tapes are mostly gone. Google Storagetek
If you have lost other equipment... In the Christmas Spirit, I will offer to put ads in newspapers in cities where the Secret Service has been around the world and offer a reward for any of your missing equipment. There is a rumor the girls in Colombia filled their purses when their Secret Service "clients" and other U.S. clients fell asleep.
On Pearl Harbor Day, even. Apropos, in that foolishly losing media with sensitive data is not so different than missing an invasion, missing the RADAR signature warning and mishandling Japan's declaration of war prior to the attack--or so say some historians.
Sorry. "Attack," not "invasion."
Fire the whole lot and replace Secret Service with FDIC employees. FDIC workers are ethical, responsible, & have a spotless record.
I liked the information on those tapes about the security procedures at the White House as well as all of the personal stuff that was on there. I also noticed the amex card data that included some very interesting purchases.
You may be correct for it is not verified the girls the Secret Service Agents "simply used" were of age.... Could we have a large number of these U.S. Government Employees charged with Child Abuse, and Pornography?
Somebody probably found the tapes and used them to backup their own computer, I'm sure. Now, what happened to the contract employee who lost the tapes (or sold them to China)?
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