Laptops lost, stolen at Justice

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/0812/pol-laptop-08-12-02.asp

[While these are interesting stats, I would like to know how many of
these laptops were lost by support personal and how many were lost by
agents? Equally interesting would be to know the stats for lost
personal sidearms, and badges and what the outcome was for those 
parties. If the punishment was as severe, these stats wouldn't make 
the news as often as they do.  - WK]


By Matt Caterinicchia 
Aug. 12, 2002

More than 400 laptop computers at Justice Department agencies and
bureaus that stored sensitive information have been lost or stolen,
according to the department's Office of the Inspector General.

"It is possible that the missing laptop computers would have been used
to process and store national security or sensitive law enforcement
information that, if divulged, could harm the public," according to
the IG report.

The FBI lost 317 laptops, which represents 2 percent of the total
15,000 laptops in its inventory, according to the report. The U.S.  
Marshals Service lost 56. The Federal Bureau of Prisons reported 27
missing laptops, out of an inventory of 2,690. The Bureau of Prisons
and the Marshals Service's audits cover laptop computers reported
lost, stolen or missing from October 1999 to August 2001, and the
FBI's audit covers equipment reported missing from October 1999 to
January 2002.

The Drug Enforcement Administration could not provide the IG with the
number of lost or stolen laptops because of the "unreliability of
data," according to the report.

"The loss of these items is significant because of the sensitive
nature of the missing property," Justice IG Glenn Fine says in the
audit. "The information contained on these laptop computers could
compromise national security or jeopardize ongoing investigations."

Before last year, the FBI had not taken a complete inventory of laptop
computers in almost a decade, breaking an agency policy that requires
inventory to be taken every two years, Fine said.

In a statement, FBI officials said they are tightening inventory
control by strictly enforcing rigorous and regular property accounting
procedures, promising a prompt and robust response to the loss of any
sensitive property, such as a laptop, and defining and enforcing
individual liability for negligently lost property.

"We commend the inspector general and his staff for thorough
investigation into this matter involving unaccounted-for laptop
computers," according to an FBI statement released last week.

John Pike, a former defense analyst at the Federation of American
Scientists and now director of GlobalSecurity.org, said the loss and
theft of laptop computers is a problem that will continue to plague
agencies regardless of security measures. "It is a known fact that
these laptops have been known to get up and walk off by themselves,"  
he said.

But Pike was not optimistic that the FBI's controls would be
successful. "Personally, I think the problem is going to get a lot
worse once the Trilogy system is completed."

Trilogy is the FBI's $400 million information technology upgrade that
will provide FBI agents with improved access to investigation files
and other information. The IG report listed a series of
recommendations for Justice agencies to follow. The proposals include:

* Using bar codes and scanning devices to better track sensitive
  property.

* Tightening requirements for reporting the loss of laptop computers.

* Revising the guidelines for retrieving sensitive property from
  employees who leave.

* Requiring that laptop computer disposal documents certify that all
  sensitive information has been removed from the laptops' hard drives
  before the computer has been discarded.

As a result of the IG's recommendations, FBI officials said they could
strengthen and better enforce current policies and practices as well
as apply new security procedures (see box).

"It is possible to reduce the number of lost or stolen laptops within
these agencies, but I truly believe that there is no way to completely
eliminate the problem," Pike said.

***

Keeping Track

The FBI, which is missing 317 of the more than 400 laptops lost or
stolen at the Justice Department, plans to tighten its policies. The
FBI will:

* Conduct inventories of sensitive property, such as weapons and
  laptop computers, every year instead of every other year.

* Establish firm deadlines for employees to report the loss or theft
  of FBI property to their supervisors and for supervisors to report
  to headquarters, for the Office of Professional Responsibility to
  initiate and complete investigations and for employees to enter
  losses into the National Crime Information Center, when appropriate.

* Improve disciplinary measures applied to employees who lose a laptop
  or have one stolen from them.

* Strengthen the policy for proper storage of FBI property outside the
  office.

* Ensure that when employees leave the bureau, all property is
  accounted for and reimbursement is made for any missing property.

* Improve the documentation of the destruction of excess laptop
  computers and hard drives.
 

 

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