Skip the navigation
)
News

U.S. mistakenly posts list of civilian nuke sites

'Wow that's interesting', says discoverer of sensitive document on government Web site

June 3, 2009 03:58 PM ET

Computerworld - A 267-page document listing all U.S. civilian nuclear sites along with descriptions of their assets and activities became available on whistleblower Web site Wikileaks.org days after a government Web site publicly posted the data by accident.

The sensitive, but unclassified, data had been compiled as part of a report being prepared by the federal government for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). It was scheduled to be transmitted to the agency later this year and was sent for congressional review by President Obama on May 5, according to a report in the New York Times.

The document, which had been marked by the president as "Highly Confidential Safeguards Sensitive," subsequently appears to have, for some unexplained reason, been publicly posted by the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) on its Web site, the Times said. The document has since been taken down but is now available from several locations via Wikileaks.org.

The document was discovered on the GPO Web site on May 22 by Steven Aftergood, director of the Federation of American Scientists' (FAS) Project on Government Secrecy. Aftergood on Monday posted the document on Secrecy News, a publication of the FAS that he maintains.

The breached document is titled The List of Sites, Locations, Facilities, and Activities Declared to the International Atomic Energy Agency, and contains detailed information on hundreds of civilian nuclear sites in the country, including those storing enriched uranium. The report lists details on programs at nuclear weapons research labs at Los Alamos, Livermore and Sandia.

A message to Congress from Obama at the beginning of the document states that "appropriate measures" have been taken to ensure that no information of "direct national security significance" has been included in the document. While the IAEA classification for such declarations is "Highly Confidential Safeguards Sensitive," the U.S. considers the data "sensitive but unclassified," the president said in his letter.

Aftergood, in an interview, said he spotted the document during a "routine review" of new GPO publications. While scanning through the latest releases on May 22, Aftergood said he saw the one on the nuclear sites.

"I thought, 'wow, that's interesting' and grabbed it," he said. After scanning through the contents, Aftergood said he was puzzled that the GPO had publicly posted the document despite the cover letter from the president indicating that the information was sensitive and not to be disclosed.

"I don't understand how it could be that the GPO had nevertheless proceeded to publish it," he said. He added that it was apparently only after reporters started asking the GPO about the document on its Web site that it was taken down at around 5 p.m. Tuesday.



What is Tech Briefcase?
TechBriefcase is a new, free service where IT Professionals can Search, Store and Share IT white papers and content like this. Learn more
Bookmark content
Speed up your research efforts with content across the web.
Search and Store
Find the white papers you need. Create folders for any topic.
View Anywhere
Open your briefcase on your iPhone, tablet or desktop. Share with colleagues.
Don't have an account yet?
Additional Resources
Security KnowledgeVault
WHITE PAPER
Security is not an option. This KnowledgeVault Series offers professional advice how to be proactive in the fight against cybercrimes and multi-layered security threats; how to adopt a holistic approach to protecting and managing data; and how to hire a qualified security assessor. Make security your Number 1 priority.

Read now.

Cut Communications Costs Once and for All
WHITE PAPER
New IP-based communications systems are being deployed by small and midsized businesses at a rapid rate. Learn how these organizations are enabling faster responsiveness, creating better customer experiences, speeding office or mobile interactions, and dramatically reducing existing communications costs.

Read now.

Security White Papers
Driving Secure Enterprise File Sharing and Syncing in the Enterprise
GroupLogic's new activEcho is the industry's only secure Enterprise File Sharing and Synching solution that balances the need for simplicity for the end...
The Enterprise File Sharing Option
Enterprises and IT departments need to address several critical security issues when considering file sharing and syncing products. Many of today's solutions do...
Security Strategies to Virtualizing Internet-Facing Applications
The IT organization at Intel has set a goal to transition their enterprise to a private cloud for their Office and Enterprise applications....
Cloud Security Planning Guide
Cloud security considerations span protecting hardware and platform technologies in the data center to enabling regulatory compliance and defending cloud access through different...
Cloud Security Vendor Round Table
This vendor round table guide will help you to evaluate different cloud technology vendors and service providers based on a series of questions...
All Security White Papers
Security Webcasts
Live Webcast
Data Privacy and Protection in Production Environments: New Research from Ponemon Institute
Date: Wednesday, June 13, 2012, 1:00 PM EDT / 10:00 AM PDT

In a recent study conducted by Ponemon Institute, fifty-five percent of respondents...
Data Privacy and Protection in Production Environments: New Research from Ponemon Institute
Date: Wednesday, June 13, 2012, 1:00 PM EDT / 10:00 AM PDT

In a recent study conducted by Ponemon Institute, fifty-five percent of respondents...
Security Certifications 101 - BlackBerry and all those acronyms what do they mean and why they matter?
FIPS, Common Criteria, CAPS, AISEP, NFC, NIST, Fraunhofer SIT, CESG, DSD - these are just some of the government and industry certifications which...
BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 Security Overview
The presentation provides an overview of BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 security capabilities and features, including: BlackBerry® Balance™ technology, BlackBerry® Bridge, data-at-rest protection, and...
BlackBerry NFC Security Overview
The presentation on NFC security will provide an overview of the security protections built into the BlackBerry platform to protect users, application developers...
Playing Defense: Staying on Top of Your Disaster Recovery Game
When it comes to disaster recovery, rapidly growing data volumes, distributed computing models, and new technologies all combine to present an ever-changing playing...
All Security Webcasts
Newsletter Sign-Up

Receive the latest news test, reviews and trends on your favorite technology topics

Choose a newsletter
  1. View all newsletters | Privacy Policy
IT Jobs