Backpack bungle as Defence aide allows spies to steal portable drive

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/security/backpack-bungle-as-defence-aide-allows-spies-to-steal-portable-drive-20111103-1my1t.html

By Dylan Welch
smh.com.au
November 4, 2011

AN aide de camp working for Australia's most senior military officer in 
the Middle East had an encrypted classified thumb drive stolen while 
travelling through Kuwait last year, in a major security breach for 
Defence.

A subsequent investigation found it was likely the USB drive was either 
stolen by, or ended up in the possession of, a foreign intelligence 
service.

The compromise of the classified material - which included ''Australian 
Eyes Only'' Defence documents of the commander of Australian military 
operations in the Middle East, Major-General John Cantwell - was 
described as a ''major security incident'' by Defence.

It is one of a series of thefts and losses revealed in Defence Security 
Agency investigation reports between 2008 and last year, obtained by the 
Herald under freedom of information laws.

''The loss of the USB was a deliberate theft and not accidental,'' the 
investigation report states.

[...]


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