Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Clinton Era Hard Drive Goes Missing

Uh oh.

The National Archives—a repository of important government documents, including the U.S. Constitution—has lost a computer hard drive containing large volumes of Clinton administration records, including the names, phone numbers and Social Security numbers of White House staff members and visitors.

Officials at the Archives say they don’t know how many confidential records are on the hard drive. But congressional aides briefed on the matter say it contains “more than 100,000” Social Security numbers, including one belonging to a daughter of then-Vice President Al Gore. It also contains Secret Service and White House operating procedures, the staffers said they were told.

The hard drive was last seen in the National Archive’s complex in College Park, Maryland, sometime between October of last year and the first week of February. It was discovered missing in late March, prompting a thorough search for the small, 2.5 pound device, the Archives said. When it could not be located, the inspector general’s office opened a criminal investigation.

(6) Comments
Posted by Owen at 2215 hrs
Politics + Politics - General + Technology

  1. Anyone think to look in Sandy Berger’s socks?

    Posted by Deibert on May 20, 2009 at 2245 hrs


  2. A 2.5 lb. harddrive? what are they using? 1980’s technology?

    Posted by LibertyNews on May 21, 2009 at 0154 hrs


  3. LibertyNews…..

    Ummmm, yes?  Besides, for early ‘90’s byu the time it was TEMPEST approved 2.5 pounds would not have been unreasonable.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on May 21, 2009 at 0754 hrs


  4. Read the article, LibertyNews:

    The device is described as a two terabyte Western Digital MY BOOK external hard drive, measuring 6.5 x 2.1 x 5.4 inches.

    We’re not talking one drive, we’re talking two in an enclosure. Since a desktop drive (which is consistent with the measurements above) weighs pretty close to a pound, 2.5 lbs for such a device is quite reasonable.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on May 21, 2009 at 1520 hrs


  5. The first thing that pops into my head is that you can’t discuss the term “hard drive” and “Clinton” in the same news story without having the double entendre hit you right in the face. 

    That whole presidency was one eight-year-long Beavis and Butthead episode.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on May 21, 2009 at 1959 hrs


  6. Good point Steve. If had been Bill’s drive it would have been a “hard (core) drive.”

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on May 21, 2009 at 2230 hrs


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