"Clear" Laptop Found, In the Same Locked Office

jafo alerts us to an SFGate story reporting that the lost "Clear" Program laptop has turned up in the same office from which it was reported missing, but not in its previous location. "A preliminary investigation shows that the information was not compromised... The computer held names, addresses and birthdates for people applying to the program, as well as driver's license, passport and green card information. But, she said, the computer contained no Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, fingerprints, facial images or other biometric information... The information was encrypted on the server, but not on the laptop, although it should have been... However, it was protected by two levels of passwords." Reader jafo adds, "Pardon me if I have little confidence that an organization that loses a sensitive laptop for 9 days is able to tell if it was compromised."

Sorry

[MyLongNickName]

... I borrowed it for the weekend to play WoW.

Re:Sorry

[Loibisch]

I'm amazed...how did you get through the two levels of passwords? You must be one hell of a master hacker!

Two Levels of Passwords?

[something_wicked_thi]

Those are, like, needed to remove the hard drive, right?

Re:Two Levels of Passwords?

[amazeofdeath]

Yes, the screws on the bottom of the laptop will ask you the boot and Windows passwords before they'll open.

Re:Sorry

[hansraj]

Jeez man, didn't you learn anything from all those hollywood documentaries? Out of the bazillion possibilities, the password is always set to be the one that happens to be your second guess (third if there is a bomb ticking and you need the password to diffuse the bomb).

"Clear" Laptop Found, In the Same Locked Office

[Dan East]

That is why I prefer opaque laptops.

Re:Sorry

[MyLongNickName]

Oh, that's easy. You see, we tape the passwords to the bottom of the PC. Those of us who work there know this, but no outside hacker would ever think to look there.

Plus the first password is 12345 and the second is ABCDEFG. Half the time, I don't even have to look at the sticky note.

Re:Sorry

[Lumpy]

simple...

he's a level 3 hacker.

Quote of the Day

[SendBot]

"[data was not encrypted] However, it was protected by two levels of passwords."

Baby, I'm sorry I cheated on you. But I was thinking of you while we did it.

Re:How Hard Did They Look?

[nomadic]

Honestly I can't criticize, that sounds like something I would do.

Re:Two Levels of Passwords?

[Siener]

I can't help but think that the first was password to their Vista Enterprise and second... Well... That hopefully was atleast bitlocker, perhaps more.

Or maybe the first one was BIOS and the second Windows.

Ask Slashdot

[PMuse]

Dear Slashdot,

I've borrowed a laptop from my office to download a little . . . well, nevermind. But, the thing is that my manager went apeshit and the laptop turns out to have a lot of valuable data sitting on it. What should I do?

The FBI is searching the homes of all the employees, so I can't keep it. If I give it to a friend, some one will eventually tell and I'll get busted.

If I dump it or destroy it, they'll assume espionage and the investigation will go on for months and I'm sure to slip up eventually.

If I return it to quiet things down, I might provide them with forensic evidence they can link to me, not to mention maybe getting caught doing it.

Please help. If I lose my security clearance, I'll never get another job.

Re:Sorry

[dascritch]

yep, first password was "AlQaeda", but no way to remember the exact ortograph of these f**ing ba**ard hem.

The second was "bomb".

Re:Sorry

[JWSmythe]

Only if you roll less than a 20 on 2d10.

    God, I can't believe I remember crap like that from 20 years ago. :)

ob Eddie Izzard

[Drathos]

Breaking into the Pentagon computer..

Double click on 'Yes.'

Oh. Password protected. Twenty billion possible chances..

Er..

Jeff.

Hey!

My guess...

[g0bshiTe]

Reader jafo adds, "Pardon me if I have little confidence that an organization that loses a sensitive laptop for 9 days is able to tell if it was compromised."

It was never actually missing. They just couldn't find it in their own office.

Re:Sorry

[databyss]

Is "20 years ago" code for "last night in moms basement"?

Re:Sorry

[DoctorDeath]

Back in the 80's we had a list of passwords for different places. The FBI computer system had 2 levels of passwords, the first was rocky and the second was bullwinkle. Gotta love these tough two level password systems...

Time to change my password

[phorm]

the first password is 12345

Amazing, that's the same password that I use on my luggage!

Missing Laptop??

[BigBlueOx]

No, no, no. Just a little radiation leak. Give us a minute to lock it down.

Uh, negative, negative, don't come in here ... uh ... oh look! We found it! It was here all along! We're fine here ... now. How are you?

Re:Two Levels of Passwords?

[zip_000]

The HR manager at my previous job accidentally sent out info (including SSN) on all of the employees to allusers. She then tried to "unsend" it - ha.

Re:no excuses

[mgblst]

Must be a statistician.

Stolen = -1 laptop

returned = 1 laptop

therefore, there never was a laptop.

Not Compromised?

[Anonymous Coward]

Wow, that is a pretty naive assumption.

1. Steal laptop
2. Copy user records
3. Modify a few select existing records
4. Replace laptop to avoid suspicion
5. ???
6. Profit!!

I'm sure some people would pay some pretty good money to get on the Clear list...
Others would pay good money to get a copy of who is on the list...

All I can say is, "Ha Ha!"

Re:Sorry

[dgatwood]

Add an "I" in there and you could make it a complete sentence. Harder to crack that way. :-D

Re:Sorry

[Anonymous Coward]

True, but I've yet to come across the hot chick that'll give me a blowjob(

there, fixed that for ya

Re:Sorry

[Anonymous Coward]

So the combination is one, two, three, four, five? That's the stupidest combination I've ever heard! That's the kind of combination an idiot would put on his luggage!

One, two, three, four, five? That's amazing. I've got the same combination on my luggage.

AND CHANGE THE COMBINATION ON MY LUGGAGE!

Why is this company even allowed to exist?

[teal_]

As I was waiting my turn in line at the SFO security gates and about to put my things on the conveyor belt, all of a sudden a "Clear" employee brings a customer of theirs to cut right in front of me with a curt "excuse me". What is that? Just because they pay money they get to cut in front of me? Isn't the airport a public facility?

Can I open up shop in a grocery store and sell tickets whereby I cut in front of everybody else to get my clients through?

I wanted to raise a fuss but being that it was the airport I kept my mouth shut otherwise they'd probably arrest and detain me for terrorism or something. But seriously, what is the deal?

Makes me very angry.

Re:Sorry

[Anonymous Coward]

What I do is I create a directory with a name that starts with a dot (.) and I put my secret stuff in there. like .pr0n or .hax0rtools or .diary

Then when you list the directory, it's not even there! Who needs a password when an attacker can't even see that your files are even there?

I haven't been hacked yet!