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Where Did 67 Computers from the Los Alamos Nuclear Weapons Lab Go?

Posted 02/12/09 at 03:45:37 PM  by Paul Lilly

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Losing a single USB key from a nuclear weapons lab could be cause for concern, but what happens when 67 computers are unaccounted for, including 13 that were reported lost or stolen in the past year alone? What happens in this case is that officials claim no classified information has been lost. 0_o

The missing computers came to light after the watchdog group Project on Government Oversight released a memo dated February 3 from the Energy Department' National Nuclear Security Administration, which listed the missing PCs. According to Kevin Roark, a spokesman for Los Alamos, the lab has initiated a month-long inventory to try and account for the mysteriously missing machines, and while he admitted it's a cybersecurity issue due to personal information being stored, he maintains that none of the PCs hold any classified info.

"The magnitude of exposure and risk to the laboratory is at best unclear as little data on these losses has been collected or pursued given their treatment as property management issues," a security administration memo read.

Of the thirteen missing PCs within the past year, three were taken from a scientist's home in Santa Fe, New Mexico on January 16th. There's also a BlackBerry that has gone missing after being lost "in a sensitive foreign country."

COMMENTS:5
TAGS: Security, computers, los alamos
COMMENTS
avatarSend me over there and I'll

Submitted by Keith E. Whisman on Sat, 02/14/2009 - 4:20am

Send me over there and I'll rebuild their security from the ground up. Everyone gets checked. I would bar anyone from removing anything from the property larger than a vanilla folder. All hardware will be marked and secured and checked by security on a daily basis. All equipment is signed out and signed in through security. All paperwork will be verified with supervisory permission to leave the premises. I would have everything triple checked by security. Cameras will be everyone. There will be no blind areas including the bathrooms. All employees will be searched befor leaving the property everyday. Think airport body search.

These national labs have lax security when it needs top notch security. The Chinese have been in and out of this place since the Clinton years and that is just an embaressment for the country and something I'm shocked that neither Clinton Nor Bush took seriously. Especially Bush. I expected way more from Pres Bush especially after 911.

This is just how I would do security at Los Alamos and every other sensitive government facility. 

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avatarTypo?

Submitted by Techrocket9 on Sat, 02/14/2009 - 2:46pm

You said, "Cameras will be everyone." Does that mean that the workers would be robots or does it mean that the people would have cybernetic implants that read their thoughts and their vision?

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avatarThe question should be ...

Submitted by dwr50 on Fri, 02/13/2009 - 5:59am

Why don't all computers have GPS tracking chips ? (or do they ?)

 

Acer Aspire 5610z,Vista HP, No problems with Vista... so far, but I'm learning Linux, just in case.

Acer Aspire 5315-2153, $348 Walmart Special,Mandriva Linux 2008.1 Spring Edition,VirtualBox 1.6.4

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avatarThe 0_o says it all...

Submitted by brockalee on Thu, 02/12/2009 - 7:50pm

That's eff'd up. And I bet all their passwords were taped to their monitors. GOOD THING THEY ONLY TOOK THE COMPUTERS.

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avatarUmmmm.....

Submitted by Techrocket9 on Thu, 02/12/2009 - 4:58pm

oops?

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