Update : 2012-01-06 |
Peter Lyon Software
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April 13, 2006 the American military said Thursday that it had ordered an investigation into reports that military data was being sold in an Afghan bazaar outside the main American air base at Bagram, north of Kabul.
The American commander in Afghanistan has also ordered a policy review of security and accountability of computer hardware and software across the command, the military's statement said. No arrests have been announced, a spokesman said. The military acted after The Los Angeles Times and The Associated Press reported that computer memory drives smuggled out of the base were being sold in shops. Some drives bought by the reporters contained material marked secret as well as information about insurgency activities and names and personal details about American service members and Afghan agents working for the United States military. "The commander of the Coalition's Combined Joint Task Force 76, Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin C. Freakley, has ordered an investigation into allegations that sensitive military items are being sold in local bazaars," the military statement said. "Members of the Army's Criminal Investigation Command are conducting an investigation into potential criminal activity." "In addition, the commander of Combined Forces Command-Afghanistan, Lt. Gen. Karl W. Eikenberry, has directed a review of policies and procedures relating to the accountability of computer hardware and software," the statement said. "The review will extend across the command." An American military spokesman, Lt. Mike Cody, said he was not aware of any arrests in connection with the investigation, but he said such information might not be released until the investigation is completed. Hundreds of Afghans work on American bases in Afghanistan as cleaners, construction workers and interpreters, and they can be seen waiting in long lines at the gates to be searched as they enter and leave. But even so, items from the American bases, in particular food items, have been appearing in bazaars. The Los Angeles Times reported Monday that a reporter had found computer drives for sale in the bazaar outside Bagram Air Base, some containing secret files and PowerPoint intelligence presentations. The drives were probably stolen and smuggled out by base workers, the report said. A subsequent article said the reporter made another such purchase after the article on Monday alerted officials to the problem. The material on the computer drives included documents - marked secret and apparently belonging to a member of a Special Forces unit - with details of the layout and defenses of an American base, the newspaper reported. Army's hard drives were stolen. What is more valuable, the hardware itself or its content? It is the latter because the content is so-called secret data. However, this news hardly went to frontpage if these files in stolen discs were encpyted. The real important stuff is still safe. |