Classified disks lost, found at Los Alamos

[InfoSec News <isn () C4I ORG>]

http://www.drudgereport.com/gertz.htm

BILL GERTZ
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
June 24, 2000

Classified disks lost, found at Los Alamos

A Los Alamos National Laboratory scientist misplaced classified
documents stored on magnetic disks, further highlighting security
problems at the nuclear-weapons facility, The Washington Times has
learned.

``This security incident is currently being reviewed,'' said Stu
Nagurka, an Energy Department spokesman.

Mr. Nagurka said the documents were reported missing and later
recovered during an audit of classified material after the loss and
recovery of two computer hard drives that contained nuclear-weapons
secrets.

``Classified information that should have been in one secure area at
Los Alamos was found in a nearby secure safe,'' he told The Washington
Times. ``The information had never left a secure area and had always
been appropriately stored, just in a different location than
originally thought.''

Mr. Nagurka said the person who misplaced the documents ``had the
proper authority and clearance'' to work with them.

``There was never any compromise of information,'' he said.

The missing information was discovered in a single day, however. Mr.
Nagurka provided no other details about the incident.

The breach was uncovered during an inventory of electronic media _
disks and tapes _ used to store classified information. The audit is
part of an effort to review security at the laboratory and involves
checking ``bar code'' information on the media.

Disclosure of the latest security breach comes as Energy Secretary
Bill Richardson was criticized by Congress this week for failing to
tighten security after reports of Chinese nuclear espionage at the
laboratories surfaced last year.

[...]

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