An unsecured backup drive has exposed thousands of US Air Force documents, including highly sensitive personnel files on senior and high-ranking officers.
Security researchers found that the gigabytes of files were accessible to anyone because the internet-connected backup drive was not password protected.
The files, reviewed by ZDNet, contained a range of personal information, such as names and addresses, ranks, and Social Security numbers of more than 4,000 officers. Another file lists the security clearance levels of hundreds of other officers, some of whom possess "top secret" clearance, and access to sensitive compartmented information and codeword-level clearance.Phone numbers and contact information of staff and their spouses, as well as other sensitive and private personal information, were found in several other spreadsheets.
The drive is understood to belong to a lieutenant colonel... more
The device has since been taken offline and it is unclear if anyone other than members of the MacKeeper Research Team had access to the files or how long they were available. more
Enough is enough!!!
Make information security a top priority, wherever you work, right now!
(My security clearance info was stolen during the OMB hack of 2015. I'm still pissed.) ~Kevin
