Report: Los Alamos lab needs better hardware inventory

Todd R. Weiss   Today’s Top Stories   or  Other Security Stories  

Web Threats Don't Discriminate The Secure Web Gateway. Mission Critical For Business Dynamic Data Center and Virtualization Drives Operational Excellence at Emory Healthcare Learn How to Think Ahead of Attacks and Protect your Data For the Future IronPort Web Reputation Filters Tech Note IronPort Encryption Technology: Safeguarding Business Email Compterworld Technology Briefing: Intelligent Users Use Business Intelligence Computerworld Report- Large Enterprises Pay More for IPAM An Apple for Your Enterprise? Sign up to receive Security Resource Alerts

August 13, 2004 (Computerworld) -- A U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) report on inadequate security controls on computers used for classified and unclassified research at the Los Alamos National Laboratory is calling on the facility to tighten the security of its hardware.
The 11-page report (download PDF), issued Wednesday, said inventory controls over the lab's approximately 5,000 laptop and 40,000 desktop computers weren't robust enough, with some machines never being entered into an inventory database. The report ends an investigation the agency began in 2002.
The lab keeps two separate inventories of its computers, according to the report. One property management system, called Sunflower, lists all machines used in the facility, while a second list tracks only the classified machines used in the lab's Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF). Out of a sampling of 450 single-user, stand-alone classified desktop computers used at the lab, eight had valid property numbers but had never been entered into the Sunflower system, according to the report. Three other classified machines had never been issued property management numbers and were also not in the system.
Los Alamos' "listing of classified desktop and laptop SCIF computers was not completely accurate" and information identifying each machine "did not always match the actual classified equipment," said the DOE report, issued by the DOE's inspector general, Gregory Friedman.
The report recommends that the lab enter all classified desktop computers into its property management system and that missing classified machines be immediately reported as required. It also calls on the lab to maintain an accurate centralized listing of all computers used for classified work, and verify and match all property numbers for the classified machines.
Kevin Roark, a spokesman for the New Mexico lab, said today that the facility has already made most of the inventory tracking changes. "This issue is largely solved," Roark said. "This problem wasn't that we didn't have the ability to lay our hands on all of our equipment. This was a problem about accounting [for it], about paperwork. The fact is there were no missing computers."
Michael Kane, associate manager for management and administration at the DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration, said in a letter accompanying the DOE report that his agency concurs with the recommendations.
The lab has faced several security problems in recent years.
Last month, two removable computer disks containing classified nuclear weapons data were determined to be missing from the lab (see story), leading to the suspension of most activities there. E-mail security problems also were reported last month (see story).
Last December, poor record keeping at the lab was blamed after nine classified computer floppy disks and a large-capacity storage disk were found to be missing

Continued...
1 | 2 | NEXT  

Print this Story

Send Us Feedback

E-mail this Story

Digg this Story

Slashdot this Story

"The recent attacks in Mumbai were carried out by assailants using high tech methods. It’s just another way in which..." Read more... Read more Security posts or See all Blogs

Virtually every Windows PC at risk, says Secunia License server glitch exposes SonicWall users to e-mail security threats Too good to ignore: 6 alternative browsers More top stories...

Clues point to Jan. 13 release of Windows 7 beta Microsoft releases Vista SP2 beta Feds nab more members of alleged identity theft gang

Review: The new MacBook Air, now with extra SSD goodness Thin as ever, the latest Air offers up to twice the storage and snappy performance. Cool Stuff: Your 2008 Holiday Gift Guide We've got an array of economical, expensive, and just plain weird tech gifts for your friends and family. Massive botnet returns from the dead, starts spamming The spam-spewing 'Srizbi' botnet that was shut down two weeks ago has been resurrected and is again under criminal control, say security researchers. Elgan: Why you can't trust 'friends' on Facebook Facebook is popular and growing -- especially with criminals. Here's why they love it. Windows 7 Get the latest news, reviews and more about Microsoft's newest desktop operating system More Continuing Coverage Windows 7 Voting Technology Google's Chrome browser Economy in turmoil: Latest news and tips iPhone 3G Bill Gates moves on Windows Vista A to Z Mac A to Z 2008 Salary Survey Find wage data for 50 IT job titles. More Special Reports 2008 Premier 100 IT Leaders 2007 Premier 100 IT Leaders 2008 Best Places to Work in IT 2007 Best Places to Work in IT 2008 Salary Survey 2007 Salary Survey 2006 Salary Survey 2008 IT Forecast 2007 IT Forecast 40 Years of Computerworld Top 12 Green-IT Users The FAQs About Going Green IT Schools to Watch iPhone: One Year Later Global Mobile Your Next Data Center Management: Reinventing IT Stop Data Leaks Web 2.0 Security Surviving Disasters Managing Storage Virtualization The Lean Storage Machine Storage on Trial Can Web 2.0 Save BI? Bypass These BI Potholes All Zones Business Continuity Zone The File Data Management Zone Security Management Zone The SAS Zone Business Intelligence and Analytics Zone The Enterprise Search Zone Software as a Service Zone The Security Zone See your link here

Moving to Windows Vista: The Promise, The Reality Moving to Windows Vista: The Promise, The Reality View this exclusive webcast today! Go to the webcast  Computerworld Executive Bulletin: Building a Robust Antivirus Defense Download this Executive Bulletin (a $49.95 value) for free, compliments of MessageLabs. (Source: MessageLabs) Antivirus software alone isn't enough to prevent today's speedy, sophisticated virus attacks. Security managers should consider multitiered approaches that include behavior scanning, appliances that check e-mail for worms, and restricting user access to dangerous Web sites. Download this Executive Bulletin (a $49.95 value) for free, compliments of MessageLabs, to learn more. Download this executive briefing  Record Capacity for Microsoft? Exchange 2007 With VMware and IBM System x3850 M2 Download this white paper today! (Source: VMware) The more that e-mail becomes an entrenched IT infrastructure application, the more that messaging administrators face numerous--sometimes conflicting--demands in the categories of availability, flexibility and cost. Employing a virtual solution can help avoid expensive over-provisioning of server computing resources, while improving management and disaster recovery. And ultimately, it can more than double the number of supportable Exchange 2007 users, as compared to a non-virtualized environment. This whitepaper explains how to break down the scalability barrier and respond faster to your mail system needs. Download this white paper  White Papers Read up on the latest ideas and technologies from companies that sell hardware, software and services. The Importance of Application Management Dell Client Migration and Deployment Services A Synergistic Relationship: Marrying E Family Hardware and Windows Vista? View more whitepapers

• Virtually every Windows PC at risk, says Secunia
• Clues point to Jan. 13 release of Windows 7 beta
• License server glitch exposes SonicWall users to e-mail security threats
• More top stories 

The Security Zone With the mobility of employees and the ease with which external devices can be brought in and out of a network, continuing to build your security plan for network servers and clients is a must. Fortunately, there is much that organizations can do to protect themselves from attacks - internal and external. Having the right policies, procedures and server configurations is critical... Learn more in The Security Zone See All Zones

Fired up about IT? Join Sharkbait and share your true tales of IT. SharkBait is the place for you to sound off about everything IT – the good, the bad, and the rest of the weird stuff you deal with every day. New baits

"Turning information into a Competitive Advantage" Companies today are realizing that competitive advantage is harder to sustain when based solely on gains in productivity and cost efficiency. The focus is shifting to invest more in business optimization initiatives which rely on trusted information to develop new insights that deliver better business results. But how can this be done efficiently in a business environment across multiple applications and processes. The answer is an Information Agenda - an innovative approach to transforming business information into a strategic asset for competitive advantage. View this webcast now!  See more Webcasts

Dan Tynan Today's Internet has been brought to you by porn YouTube and Ning are trying to shed adult-oriented content to appeal to mainstream advertisers. Will it work? ... [more]