Train theft of MoD laptop with fighter secrets alarmed Pentagon

[InfoSec News <isn () C4I ORG>]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,433941,00.html

Rob Evans and David Hencke
Tuesday February 6, 2001
The Guardian

Worried American officials complained about British security when a
laptop was stolen containing secrets of the biggest military
procurement project ever launched, a ministerial letter obtained by
the Guardian has disclosed.

Officials from both countries went through every line of the
computers' files once it was recovered. It held details of progress on
the development of the United States' supersonic joint strike fighter.

The huge project to produce a new generation of fighter aircraft is
expected to create at least 5,000 British jobs. Last month Britain and
the US signed a top-level agreement setting out the UK's involvement
in the next phase.

A petty thief stole the laptop from a British military officer at
Paddington station in London last May. It had been left on the luggage
rack on a train. The officer did not realise it had gone until the
train reached Heathrow.

The computer is believed to have passed through several hands before
it was returned to the Ministry of Defence. The thief was caught and
later convicted.

In a letter on June 12 last year Baroness Symons, minister for defence
procurement, promised her counterpart in the Pentagon that she had
"made sure that your concerns on the joint strike fighter laptop
incident are acted upon".

A Pentagon source said: "We had no idea who had had it."

An MoD spokesman said that initially the Americans had been worried,
but they were reassured that nothing held on the laptop compromised
the military and commercial secrecy surrounding the fighter plane.

The spokesman added that security procedures had since been reviewed.
For example, officials had been told to ensure their laptops were less
conspicuous when on public transport.

The ministry admitted last year that 59 of its laptops had been stolen
since 1997, while eight others had been lost.

Baroness Symons met senior Pentagon politicians in Washington to
discuss the joint strike fighter and other equipment issues last May.

Documents released under the US freedom of information act indicate
that because of the close relationship between the two countries
British firms have won a greater slice, at least 15%, of the lucrative
contracts to develop the hi-tech plane than might have been expected.

The government has so far contributed nearly 2bn towards the project,
around 10%. Pentagon officials commented that the UK was "a valued
partner in the joint strike fighter program as well as a valued ally
in coalition operations".

The US military plans to buy 3,000 of the planes, and Britain plans to
have 150, which will replace Royal Navy and RAF Harrier jump jets.

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