Thread: FBI loses 3-4 laptops a month, auditor says

WASHINGTON - Between three and four FBI laptop computers are lost or stolen each month on average and the agency is unable to say in many instances whether information on the machines is sensitive or classified, the Justice Department's inspector general said Monday.

The inspector general said the FBI is doing a better job of reducing the number of thefts and disappearances of weapons and laptop computers, but that not all problems were corrected as urged in a report five years ago.

"Perhaps most troubling, the FBI could not determine in many cases whether the lost or stolen laptop computers contained sensitive or classified information," said the report. "Such information may include case information, personal identifying information, or classified information on FBI operations."

In a report five years ago, the inspector general said 354 weapons and 317 laptop computers were lost or stolen during a 28-month review.

The new report found that 160 weapons and 160 laptop computers were lost or stolen over a 44-month period.
The FBI said it was preparing a response to the report.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17115660/

I don't know about you all...but I feel more secure now!
NOT!!!!

I would wager that a good % of those go home with FBI personel.

Why would they be putting sensitive info on something that is so easy to steal? Why don't they just put it on a disk and copy it for everybody? I know they have supercomputers that are practically unhackable, why not store the info there. There should never be top-secret info on portable, takeable devices.

"FreakinVikingsBaby" wrote:

Why would they be putting sensitive info on something that is so easy to steal? Why don't they just put it on a disk and copy it for everybody? I know they have supercomputers that are practically unhackable, why not store the info there. There should never be top-secret info on portable, takeable devices.

I was just going to post that I bet this guy was somehow related to you.

Shhhhhhh! Were making a killing selling this stuff to Al Queada.

"FreakinVikingsBaby" wrote:

Why would they be putting sensitive info on something that is so easy to steal? Why don't they just put it on a disk and copy it for everybody? I know they have supercomputers that are practically unhackable, why not store the info there. There should never be top-secret info on portable, takeable devices.

Did you just say it was stupid to have classified info on a laptop because it is easy to steal and the alternative is to put it on a disk?

Please tell me you didn't.

No I was saying that when they put it on laptops, they might as well copy disks for people because they were both easy too steal. This is why I never fill out forms with 100% accuracy. I always make sure to mispell my name a letter or change my dob by a couple days.

"FreakinVikingsBaby" wrote:

No I was saying that when they put it on laptops, they might as well copy disks for people because they were both easy too steal. This is why I never fill out forms with 100% accuracy. I always make sure to mispell my name a letter or change my dob by a couple days.

I bet that method works great on tax returns and other important documents LMAO!

"Del" wrote:

I would wager that a good % of those go home with FBI personel.

Some probably do, but I would bet that the majority are still in FBI possession, just lost in inventory somewhere.
The FBI is a pretty damn big organization, and inventory is changing locations constantly.
It doesn't take much for a form to get lost or misfiled or forgotten to be entered into the computer, and they lose track of the item's location.


When I worked IT support for a major University, we did inventory audits monthly and still ended up with equipment missing some months and equipment surpluses the next.
When you are working with large numbers, it is bound to happen to small percentages.