On-Call-IT Assists In Government Data Destruction

covaro writes "Seems those on-site computer services may be helping to cover up government dirty deeds these days. The Wall Street Journal reports: 'Investigators learned that [Office of Special Counsel head Scott Bloch, who has been under investigation since 2005] erased all the files on his office personal computer late last year. They are now trying to determine whether the deletions were improper or part of a cover-up, lawyers close to the case said ... Bypassing his agency's computer technicians, Mr. Bloch phoned for Geeks on Call, the mobile PC-help service ... Bloch had his computer's hard disk completely cleansed using a "seven-level" wipe: a thorough scrubbing that conforms to Defense Department data-security standards. The process makes it nearly impossible for forensics experts to restore the data later.'"

He's done nothing wrong

[Anonymous Coward]

This is a Rove smear, he is investigating Rove, and Rove always tries to smear anyone who tries to uncover his dirty lies.

Exactly as I suspected

[GoofyBoy]

"The process makes it nearly impossible for forensics experts to restore the data later."

Notice the wording: _nearly_ impossible. But not impossible, huh?

Lessoned learned: don't trust a seven-pass DOD 5220.22-M. Use a 35 pass ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gutmann_method [wikipedia.org] ) because you never know who wants your private collection of pr0n.

So that's how the WH lost 50,000 emails!

[romanval]

They just called a geek squad to cover their tracks!

It's strange how there's no outrage over these kinds of things. The need for transparent government is seriously overlooked.

Re:So that's how the WH lost 50,000 emails!

[Ougarou]

Appart from that, I can't see why the IT department doesn't make backup copies, for when people do stupid things like this. Isn't there a weekly image they pull that can be restored?

Surely after all these years, you would expect governments to have some kind of backup system or plan. They should start using thin-clients, NFS (or any better thing) and do full backups weekly.

improperly worded?

[Anonymous Coward]

"determine whether the deletions were improper or part of a cover-up, lawyers close to the case said"

Like plain old deceit as opposed to actual fraud?
Or an ordinary murder as opposed to a bloody execution?

I'm glad these lawyers have their standards straight.

So what would you do?

[Anonymous Coward]

You have a virus infection on a laptop which has an unknown history of security sensitive data being stored onto it. The previous or current owner can tell you just what data is important still.

You don't know just what the virus might have transmitted. Possibly this is not the first such case with unknown consequences.

So you just get rid of the virus for now, and leave unknown amounts of sensitive but no longer needed data there for the next virus which is bound to happen eventually?

Sorry, but I consider it eminently sensible to use the opportunity to actually clean out dangerous garbage before it blows up around your head next time.

Yes, this is not necessary for virus removal (iff the virus gets removed properly). It is to guard against sensitive but no longer needed data coming into the wrong hands later on.

Whether the "wrong hands" this has been for have been virus writers or law enforcement or both: one can't know without being involved.

Somewhat off topic...MOD down if you must.

[rindeee]

I just have a little gripe. It seems to me that we /. types and the public in general are obsessed with portraying anything the government of (insert western country here) does in a negative light. I think we've lost sight of the fact that the vast majority of people working in the public service sector are hard working neighbors of ours that go to work every day and do their part in an attempt to make society better. This isn't to say that the bureaucracy doesn't often screw up, create inefficiencies and from time to time do shady things, but more often than not these problems are the effect of a handful of idiots that have enough power to make things happen. Just like in a neighborhood, any large entity will have all types of people; good, bad, honest, dishonest, etc. Constant unending criticism from the general public neither productive or effective. It simply serves to cheapen the efficacy of justified criticism when it is in fact needed. What this guy did is without question 'shady' (not to mention illegal) but it doesn't reflect on the leadership as a whole. We have many good, hard working leaders, and many more working behind the scenes to make ours some of the best living in the world. Don't lose sight of that. Just my two cents.

Re:So who will stand up for his Rights?

[Akaihiryuu]

I can envision this hidden back room, where Republicans and Democrats cast off their pretentions of being "different" and laugh about all this. "Hey Bob, I've been in power for 8 years now, people are demanding change...so why don't you go out there and show how bad I am and how good you are. They'll vote for you, and we can still keep the same power structure where we both benefit!"

Simple answer

[billcopc]

Let's suppose for a moment that whatever was on that hard drive would prove him guilty of all charges; the penalty for that would be severe, like a stiff fine and jail time.

Now let's suppose he did a good job of destroying all the evidence, now he can only be tried for destroying evidence, which is pretty bad, but perhaps not as bad as whatever it is he actually did.

If you were wanted for heinous crimes against humanity (I don't know uhh... biological warfare!), and the only person with any proof winds up dead at your hands, you just need to defend yourself against the murder charge.

Re:Two words...

[ScrappyLaptop]

but...he also had them wipe the drives of several underling's laptops as well...and if he really had a virus, why not just call his own IT (the one's that said, "we don't do a level-7 for viruses we just reimage")...?

Thirty years ago, there was a huge uproar about some guy erasing a few minutes of tape. Nowadays, politicians get away with destroying evidence while under investigation...and the media doesn't even raise a stink. He who controls the media, indeed.

Re:What do they mean difficult to recover

[subterfuge]

"Well, in his defense employees should have the right to permanently remove personal data from their work stations such as emails, web surfing history, porn or whatever other private data a person might collect...reasonable level of privacy."

There is no such thing as a reasonable level of privacy for the things you list [regardless of gov/corp status]. An employee has no right to use the employer's equipment/services for personal purposes, that includes "emails, web surfing history, porn or whatever other private data a person might collect" - it should not be on the PC unless it [the PC] is yours.

I field this issue on a regular basis [desktop admin weenie for a smallish health insurance company]. We have the full backing of management to immediately delete any unathorized apps/data ["...yes, I did remotely delete iTunes and all of the music files on this PC, please address your complaints to Corporate Data Security, the Ethics and Compliance department, HR and every manager in my food chain...would you like their cell phione numbers?.."]. Despite the assumption that everyone seems to have that you have privacy at your place of employment you actually have very little [restroom with no camera/mic...thats about it]. The PC,hard disk, network, innerweb connection, email systems, telephone and every bit of airspace on the property are paid for by the employer - you have rights to pretty much none of it as an employee.

Re:So who will stand up for his Rights?

[moxley]

Until people can get over the two party scam; (the false parameters perpetrated onto the people of this country and constantly reinforced by the media); until people can get over that, see it for what it is, and look past it - we can't even begin to think about truly reforming things.

Unfortunately I think it's too late to reform the elections system and false two part (opposite sides of the same coin) system. I hope it's not, but I am being realistic. Whether you believe it or not, the US government is being run as a criminal enterprise, and has been for quite some time. We have a group of insiders exploiting and manipulating everything; mainly via intelligence services - disregarding the rule of law; running international drug trafficking rings from production to wholesale for street sale (again, this is a fact, Iran Contra stumbled on to one of these oeprations and the agency's own documents prove this) which help fund all sorts of unamerican things.

This group of people is involved in so many things and is behind the descent into fascism in America. From what I can tell, here is what the future looks like in America:

You're going to see puches for laws (and tons of media coverage) about two things: One, how dangerous the internet is and how it is a tool for both recruiting terrorists and carrying out research and attacks; also that is is being used to "radicalize" american youth. This media and legislative stuff has already started. The internet provides too much information from too many uncontrolled sources and provides too great of a potential for oganization for the powers that be to allow it to continue uncontrolled.

You're going to see media coverage about American citizens being terrorists; especially people who look like good ol American kids. Likely trials of these people being publicized. The collapse of the dollar.

There will likely be another terrorist attack in the next 10 months. It will be (or at least will seem to be) a massive nuclear or biological/checmical attack, probably in multiple cities, definitely in DC. My guess is that it will be blamed on normal looking Americans...Martial law will be declared..The constitution will be suspended which cannot be reviewed by congress for at least 6 mo (yes, this is law, which has been made stronger by the current administration, and our fearless leader who has given himself sole authority to declare a "national emergency event" and to "ensure continuing constitutional government," look it up) Private defense contractors like Blackwater will be on the streets, people will be rounded up. The COG plan will kicxk in, FEMA will be in charge.

If you think this is exagerating, this is a great primer on why we aer in such a precarious position, (without even getting into any of the documentation, etc):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjALf12PAWc [youtube.com] (The blueprint for crushing democracy, the 10 things which have happened in the US which indicate that we are fucked).

I highly recommend these articles (or anything by Catherine Austin Fits): http://solari.com/learn/articles_risk.htm [solari.com]

Also, the SPP (or North American Union) will be brought in after the collapse of the dollar or a massive attack.

I know this is dark and depressing stuff and that some people just refuse to even consider it being true. Unfortunately it is all laid out; the legal framework, the political blueprint for what is happening, and plenty of people with inside knowledge of some of this stuff are talking.

So my point really is that if you are comparing the corruption of the Bush administration to that of the Clinton administration you are wasting time and energy. They are both corrupt, they are both working toward the same end, basically. Yes, times were better (especially superficially) when Clinton was president, but overall the sickness in our system had already started long before either of them.

Re:Two words...

[apparently]

and that's your perfect answer "Oops I'm sorry, I wanted to make sure my virus had gone.

That's the polar opposite of the perfect answer. This is a government computer we're talking about. End-users aren't to be performing maintenance, contracting out maintenance, or any other such notion. The idea of "oops, I must've got a virus" complete bullshit: any IT department worth its paycheck has ensured their systems are virus-proof. In the event that a virus did manage to make its way through, mandatory SOP would be for the in-house shop to determine how security was compromise, the extent of the damage, and ensure that the issue has been resolved properly. Now take that up a notch for government systems, and "oops!" is far from a perfect excuse.

This fucker needs to be investigated.

Re:Exactly as I suspected

[gweihir]

Notice the wording: _nearly_ impossible. But not impossible, huh?

This is likely just incompetent journalism. There is zero evidence that anybody can recover data after one overwrite with zeros on a modern drive.

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