Sensitive Personal Information of 246,000 DHS Employees Found on Home Computer (usatoday.com) 59
The sensitive personal information of 246,000 Department of Homeland Security employees was found on the home computer server of a DHS employee in May, according to documents obtained by USA TODAY. From the report: Also discovered on the server was a copy of 159,000 case files from the inspector general's investigative case management system, which suspects in an ongoing criminal investigation intended to market and sell, according to a report sent by DHS Inspector General John Roth on Nov. 24 to key members of Congress. The information included names, Social Security numbers and dates of birth, the report said. The inspector general's acting chief information security officer reported the breach to DHS officials on May 11, while IG agents reviewed the details. Acting DHS Secretary Elaine Duke decided on Aug. 21 to notify affected employees who were employed at the department through the end of 2014 about the breach.
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Times have changed.
Re: TSA I hope (Score:1)
Re:TSA I hope (Score:5, Insightful)
The TSA allowed a reporter to photograph the master keys for those stupid TSA locks.
https://www.wired.com/2015/09/... [wired.com]
With the result that now anyone anywhere in the world can open your luggage, take stuff out and reseal it.
Re:TSA I hope (Score:4, Interesting)
This is the perfect example to use against the idiots who want backdoors in operating systems, smartphones, tablets and computers.
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The problem is the assholes and idiots who want backdoors to all forms of security are one of two flavors:
1) The idiots who can't be educated on the technology and think mathematics is subject to laws written by people
2) The assholes who don't care if they break security for everyone as long as they can expediently get access to any and all data
Neither of these groups gives a f
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The majority, by 2.86 million, do NOT agree with endless police state tactics and "rough him up" declarations by the "messiah" of the moment
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Except that the Hillary Supporters are the ones that actively believe that the state should access all of your secrets. These are the same clowns that supported and applauded Obama's extension of the GB secret courts and data mining. They also supported having the FBI access iPhones whenever they want "to protect from terrorists" and "think of the children".
Nice try though.
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Incorrect.
The master key of these locks is not like a cryptographic key; it conveys no security at all. Since locks with the same master key are easily purchased; the shape of the master key is trivial to reverse engineer anyway.
Nothing was revealed by that photograph. Anyone who wanted a copy of that key could always have made one.
Bottom line: any mass market lock with a master key is fake security. TSA is endangering the public by even mandating one. This employee did nothing wrong except work for the TSA
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Yeah, that's very worrying possibility. Hell in places like Russia or China I wouldn't put it past them to plant stuff in your baggage and then use that to detain you until you pay them off.
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Very alarming (Score:3)
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$12.3 billion in salary alone if the average is $50k full-loaded. I suspect the number is probably closer to $80k and the total would be $19.7 billion. I can't imagine what the total budget would have to be to protect the US's borders, but it is obviously an outrageous amount.
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" I can't imagine what the total budget would have to be to protect the US's borders, but it is obviously an outrageous amount."
Indeed, from WP:
Employees 229,000 (2017) [1]
Annual budget $40.6 billion (2017)[2]
Agency executives
Elaine Duke, Acting Secretary
Claire Grady, Senior Official performing the duties of Deputy Secretary
Child agencies
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
Glad to see same typical response we always get (Score:1)
"oops, our bad, here's your free 18 months of credit monitoring"
No one goes to jail, no one gets sued back to the stone ages. Providing free credit monitoring every couple of years is just the new cost of doing business. It's way cheaper than actually securing stuff.
Last name Clinton. (Score:2)
So, no charges, wasn't even a crime claims the TSA.
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Who are in charge of the DHS in May 2017? Hmmmmm?
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Who are in charge of the DHS in May 2017? Hmmmmm?
That was when the data was FOUND.
From TFS:
Acting DHS Secretary Elaine Duke decided on Aug. 21 to notify affected employees who were employed at the department through the end of 2014 about the breach.
Given that the data only includes DHS employees through the end on 2014, do you have the balls to comment on who was in charge THEN?
I'm guessing no.
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The breach was discovered in May 2017 the data contained older records.
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had my identity stolen so many times, I'm nobody (Score:2)
What's more scary (Score:1)
Is the fact that there are 246,000 DHS employees. That larger than some nations armies.
This is just another example of why... (Score:2)
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If all the secret data was secure how can cleared gov workers be watched and tracked 24/7?
The gov systems in the USA are set up to watch for internal criminals, whistleblower, media investigations and corruption 24/7.
If everything was encrypted how could investigators see data moving around networks to gov staff who then walk out, sell secrets?
One good example is the data use of once trusted staff tempted to become a whis
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So many cyber investigation that the investigations and interviews cant keep up?
Not a big deal really (Score:2)
Files on a computer doesn't mean anything. All work computers here are required to be encrypted and locked when unattended, which is a minimum level of security.