For more info on a specific newsletter, click the title. Details will be displayed in a new window.
Subscribe to
Computerworld 40 years of the most authoritative source of news and information for IT leaders.
Los Alamos Confirms E-mail Security Holes
or
Other Networking and Internet Stories
|
|
|
|
July 26, 2004 (Computerworld) -- Security troubles at Los Alamos National Laboratory continued last week as officials confirmed that workers recently sent out an undisclosed number of classified e-mails over a nonsecure system.
The disclosure came less than two weeks after the New Mexico-based lab announced that two removable computer disks containing classified nuclear weapons data were missing . That incident marked at least the third time since 2000 that storage media containing classified information has been lost at the facility.
Los Alamos spokesman Kevin Roark last week confirmed that the lab recently discovered new incidents of classified information being sent through a nonclassified e-mail system. "We have had occurrences recently, yes," he said. "We have had them in the past. It's anticipated we will have them in the future."
Questionable Judgment
Roark said the incidents occurred when scientists at the lab, which employs about 12,000 people, incorrectly judged information as being classified versus unclassified and sent it without asking for assistance in categorizing the content of their e-mails. Such incidents are always promptly reported to the U.S. Department of Energy and other agencies, as required by law, he said.
When such incidents recur, employees are given additional training to remind them of the proper procedures, Roark said. The problem is that there are "vagaries in the classification rules" that can make it difficult to determine what's classified. Roark said that he couldn't comment on the number of classified e-mails that were sent over the unclassified e-mail system but that it was "a very small number."
"We'd like to get that to zero," he said. "But you've got to understand, you can't legislate perfection on people. All you can do is tell them in security briefings and reiterate it every time you talk about security."
Earlier this month, the lab suspended most activities while continuing the investigation into the missing disks.
Security experts and analysts expressed varied opinions on the recent security incidents at Los Alamos.
Scott Larson, a managing director at Stroz Friedberg LLC, a New York-based consultancy that specializes in computer forensics, acknowledged that accidental releases of sensitive information using nonsecure e-mail systems are unavoidable. But he was critical of the lab's position that such incidents are mostly attributable to human judgment.
"The ... throwing-your-hands-up approach is unacceptable for this kind of information," Larson said. Classified and nonclassified e-mail systems must be completely separate, and the people who use them must be trained to know the difference, he said.
Nathaniel Palmer, a security analyst at Delphi Group in Boston, called the security lapses "scary." Palmer said he's amazed that a nonsecure e-mail system is even used in the lab, when instead one system could be used by everyone and all correspondence could be better monitored.
Other analysts were more forgiving.
Pete Lindstrom, an analyst at Spire Security LLC in Malvern, Pa., said it's possible that the Los Alamos facility experiences no more security lapses than other classified government facilities but that officials there are more willing to discuss problems publicly.
|
Print this Story |
|
Send Us Feedback |
|
E-mail this Story |
|
Digg this Story |
|
Slashdot this Story |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
All Zones Application Performance Zone Business Continuity Zone Data Center Management Zone Enterprise-Class Security Zone The File Data Management Zone Grid Computing on Windows Zone Security Management Zone ITIL Best Practices Zone The SAS Zone Storage Virtualization Zone Business Intelligence and Analytics Zone |
 See your link here
|
 |
||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
|
Advance your BlackBerry(R) solution management know-how this July
Download this Executive Briefing now (a $195.00 value), compliments of ProCurve Networking by HP.
Read up on the latest ideas and technologies from companies that sell hardware, software and services.
- Microsoft promises four patches next week
- Google gives away home-cooked Web application security scanner
- Storm botnet stages Fourth of July attacks
- More top stories
| XenServer FREE trial Citrix XenServer is the simplest and most effective way to virtualize and provision servers. XenServer combines comprehensive server virtualization capabilities with unparalleled scalability, performance, economics, and ease-of-use. Based on the open source Xen hypervisor, XenServer delivers fast performance, easy management, and advanced features such as live migration. |
Who needs Mrs. Doubtfire? When it comes to spot-on "advice," we've got Aunt Donna.
|
Accelerate your pursuit of perfection For almost 80 years, Kodak has been helping banks, insurance companies, healthcare providers, government agencies and other businesses produce billions of document images. So Kodak is uniquely positioned to know and deliver–what customers want: easy-to-use scanners that output the best possible image quality. Download this white paper now!
|
 Networking Know-HowFor tips and best practices on building anything in the network, see Sandra Gittlen's regular column. Click here to read the latest column by Sandra Gittlen |
 |
 |
Troubleshooting Remote Site Networks - Best Practices
Management and remote site employees expect the same level of network service as the headquarters site. However, when IT staff are faced with limited resources to support remote site networks, often the applications, services and performance at those sites is not as robust as the headquarters site. See how to deliver a high level of network service at remote sites using the best practices outlined in this white paper.Read whitepaper now |
Super-size your LAN with fiber
Fiber optic technology frees the Local Area Network (LAN) from the confines of a single building, allowing a LAN to extend across a campus or a metropolitan area. Read how the selection of fiber optic components affects repeaterless transmission distance and how one school district used fiber to build a more reliable and more cost effective high-speed, district-wide network. Also, read how Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) ownership may require self-assessment of network performance.Read whitepaper now |
Determining the cause of poor application performance
Are users constantly complaining that your network is too slow? Or that they canât connect or can't stay connected? Are network applications hanging and slowing productivity? Do you spend way too much time trying to isolate the source of the problem and to prove that often the issue isn't the network at all but the application? In this on demand webcast, learn best practices and common root causes of application problems using case studies and live network traffic.Watch webcast now |
|
|