US military secrets bought for $18
p2pnet news view | Freedom:- Britain’s Gary McKinnon has been to hell and back, waiting to see if he’ll be packed off to America as a hard-core criminal facing years in a US jail.
But why worry when US government practically people give info away, or allow it to be easily stolen?
“ONE News has gained access to the personal files of American soldiers, uncovering military secrets from the most powerful nation in the world” it says.
Oops. That means blog managers will soon be arraigned in court facing serious charges.
Wrong.
The source was New Zealander Chris Ogle who in turn found the highly restricted data on an MP3 player he’d bought in an Oklahoma thrift shop for $18.
“When the 29-year-old hooked up the player he discovered a playlist he could never have imagined – 60 files in total, including the names and personal details of American soldiers,” says the story, going on »»»
ONE News found amongst the files lists of soldiers based in Afghanistan, along with the names of some personnel who have fought in Iraq and cellphones numbers for soldiers based overseas.
ONE News called some of the numbers and the phones are still active.
The files that the numbers were located in are marked with a warning saying the release of its contents is “prohibited by federal law”.
There are also details of equipment deployed to the bases and private information about soldiers, such as social security numbers and even which ones are pregnant.
The US military, “suffered a similar security breach in 2006 when shopkeepers outside Bagram said they were selling USB sticks with military data that had been stolen by some of the 2,000 Afghans employed as cleaners, office staff and labourers at the base,” says The Guardian, adding:
“The information on some memory drives contained the social security numbers of hundreds of soldiers, including four generals, and listed troops who had completed nuclear, chemical and biological warfare training.”
facing years in a US jail – Court to review Gary McKinnon extradition, January 23, 2009
ONE News – NZ man accesses US military secrets, January 26, 2009
The Guardian – Man finds military secrets on MP3 player, January 27, 2009
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January 27th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
Bought for $18, should sell for $36.