Energy laptop goes on vacation, gets stolen -- GCN

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By GCN Staff

Energy laptop goes on vacation, gets stolen

The Energy Department's Los Alamos National Laboratory has lost a laptop containing classified information, according to MSNBC. An employee lost this particular laptop in Ireland, where he took the unit with him on vacation. The computer, which carried sensitive information, was stolen from the employee's hotel room. The good news is that the data seems to be protected by an encryption card.

"Los Alamos has started a frantic effort to inventory all its laptops," according to a source quoted by the news service. This happened right around the time the Energy Department called for tighter control of laptops.

Posted by Joab Jackson on Jun 26, 2007 at 9:39 AM

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Tue, Jun 26, 2007 Nancy Ambrosiano NM

I think the description of the missing machine is a little inflammatory, and for no reason. A statement released by LANL to local papers today noted that "A Laboratory employee on vacation in Ireland recently had a LANL laptop computer stolen out of the employee's guest room. After a full and comprehensive review, computer forensics experts at the Lab have determined with a very high level of confidence that the laptop did not contain any classified materials or any personally identifiable information, nor were any national security interests jeopardized.Are Newsweek, and others, holding Los Alamos National Laboratory alone to a standard of security unprecedented in the Federal Government? The recent tendency to hold this Laboratory accountable for its employees being anything less than "perfect" is unrealistic. Los Alamos employees take security very seriously and have made great improvements in the past six months across all aspects of security, particularly in the area of cybersecurity. To discount these efforts is inaccurate and insulting."