Sensitive U.S. data found on computer in Africa

Unencrypted and sensitive data regarding federal contracts with the Defense Intelligence Agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Transportation Security Agency were found on a computer hard disk drive purchased from a market in Ghana.

The revelation has created some red faces at giant government contractor Northrop Grumman. The drive belonged to a company employee, and contained "hundreds and hundreds of documents about government contracts," Peter Klein, an associate professor with the University of British Columbia, told Techworld.com.

Klein led an investigation for the Public Broadcasting Service show Frontline, and said it is common for old computers to be dumped in developing countries. He added that the Northrop Grumman documents were marked "competitive sensitive," and the data was unencrypted. Northrop Grumman said it is possible the hard drive may have been stolen after one of its disposal vendors took possession of the unit.

"Despite sophisticated safeguards, no company can inoculate itself completely against crime," the company said in a statement.

This raises serious questions for federal IT executives using contractors--essentially everyone--namely, how safe do you think your data is? And shouldn't it be encrypted at all times in the event that it falls into the wrong hands as this disclosure readily illustrates?

For more on the danger of computer disposal:
- see this techworld.com article