Murphy's Law: February 27, 2002

Archives

It's long been a problem that surplus military computers are sold off while they still contain classified information. After several embarrassing incidents in the 1990s, there is now a strict drill for erasing stuff off the hard drives, or, in the case of some organizations, physically destroying the hard drives before selling the rest of the PC. Now we discover a new problem. The U.S. European Command has just announced that a surplus laptop, sold for about $55, had a data CD in it's CD drive. The CD contained targeting information for the Balkans. What is really interesting about this is that the CD was prepared a year before the 1999 bombing campaign in Kosovo and Serbia. The CD would be useful for anyone that might face getting bombed by NATO, but is otherwise an interesting bit of military history. But the U.S. European Command would like it back. Please. No questions asked. 


X

ad

Help Keep StrategyPage Open

First came Facebook, then came Twitter, and finally, AI has arrived. They have all caused a decline in our business, but AI may be the deadliest innovation. We are currently in survival mode. Our writers and staff receive no payment in some months, and even when they do, it is below the minimum wage for their efforts. You can support us with your donations or subscriptions. Please help us keep our doors open.

Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on X.

Subscribe   Donate   Close