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

Posted 02/12/2009 at 1:45pm | 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."