Los Alamos lab workers face retraining after security lapse

Computerworld - Poor record-keeping is being blamed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory after nine classified computer floppy disks and a large-capacity storage disk were found to be missing during a routine inventory of classified electronic storage media at the facility.
In a statement Tuesday, the Los Alamos, N.M.-based laboratory disclosed that the items were supposed to be in the facility's new Nonproliferation and International Security Center, which was completed this summer. But as of Nov. 20, the disks were determined to be missing during routine inventories that are done to ensure security, said Kevin Roark, a spokesman for the laboratory.
None of the missing disks would jeopardize national security, he said.
According to Roark, lab officials believe the missing items weren't stolen but were probably destroyed as part of a regularly scheduled disposal process used to get rid of classified information. The problem, he said, is that when such items are destroyed, a complicated paper trail of records is supposed to be created to carefully document the disposal process. Such records apparently didn't get done for the 10 disks.
"This is unacceptable," Roark said. "This is no way for us to do our business, and we're going to fix it."
Without the required paper trail, there is no way to be sure what happened to the materials, although officials remain confident that records for related electronic media offer enough evidence that the materials were destroyed as planned.
"Our most credible scenario is where this stuff was slated for destruction," Roark said. "We do believe it was destroyed, but the paperwork was incomplete."
Part of the problem likely occurred because staff members are still moving into the new facility, which may have allowed the materials to be physically moved without proper records being completed, he said.
Over the past several years, the lab has been working to reduce the amount of classified electronic data it keeps so that these kinds of problems can be minimized, he said. "The more of it you have, the harder it is to maintain control of it," Roark said.
Because of the recent lapses, a "limited security stand-down" has been declared at the facility for all employees who regularly deal with classified materials. The stand-down was ordered by Robert Foley, vice president for laboratory management for the University of California, which operates the lab for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) in the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

"The University of California believes that security responsibilities are of the highest priority in managing the laboratory," Foley said