The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has lost records detailing former President Bill Clinton's days in the Oval Office
These days government security breaches of all kinds seem almost commonplace. The U.S. government has just announced that it has again experienced a data breach that could threaten national security and the privacy of its citizens or government officials. Whereas some of the past breaches in the U.S and its allies, such as the hack of the Lightning jet fighter program have been intentional, others, like Britain's loss of the bank records of parents of student drivers or the loss of Nuclear reactor schematics, have proven accidental.
The latest incident appears to fall into the latter category, and yet again highlights the need for more careful protection of sensitive information. A 2-Tb Western Digital external hard drive which contained records from the presidency of Bill Clinton, and information on White House staff and guests was reported missing by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). The NARA, a seldom heard of organization, is tasked with acting as "the nation's record keeper."
The organization responded relatively slowly to the potential leak. It was first discovered March 24 by a low-ranking employee, who did not formally inform senior NARA officials until April 2. The NARA overly the last couple weeks finally informed US-CERT, the White House Counsel's Office, staff of NARA's House and Senate oversight committees, and a representative of former President Clinton.
The NARA promises it has improved its internal procedures and will not face such embarrassment again. It released a statement, commenting that it "takes very seriously the loss of an external hard drive that contained copies of electronic storage tapes from the Executive Office of the President of the Clinton Administration."
The drive's information is partially unknown, but it is known to contain names and Social Security numbers of White House staff and visitors. It also contains some information copied from 113 4mm tape cartridges used by departing officials. The NARA still has possession of these tapes and the backup hard drive.
The NARA is investigating the incident and has not ruled out theft, but has not yet discovered evidence of malicious activity.
An NARA spokesperson declined to discuss the names of individuals that might be affected. The NARA is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the retrieval of the missing drive.
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