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FBI Gets Back Veterans Data Laptop; Claims No One Accessed It

Computers

from the all-clear? dept

Thu, Jun 29th 2006 12:48pm — Mike Masnick
After all of the coverage concerning the laptop and hard drive stolen from a Veterans Affairs employee's home, the FBI is now claiming that it has recovered the system, and based on their checks, it appears that the data was never accessed. All along, many people figured this was the work of a random burglar who had no clue what was on the laptop -- and this recovery suggests that may have been correct. However, the FBI admits that no one is in custody, after an anonymous person they don't believe was involved turned in the machine. Of course, rather than taking the FBI's word for it, I'd imagine most people whose data is in the database would feel better with some credit monitoring.
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20 Comments

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  • identicon
    WhosYourDaddy, 29 Jun 2006 @ 12:58pm

    Lets get real

    Now these guys are getting a little EMO over this dont ya think? Maybe they need some of this

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    LostAndFound, 29 Jun 2006 @ 1:38pm

    Oh There it is!

    I bet it was just misplaced and then they found it hiding behind someones desk. DOH!!

    *waiting for the truth to come out*

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Nova Lounge, 29 Jun 2006 @ 1:49pm

    No mention of the CDs?

    Just an observation - much of the orignal coverage about the theft also said that there were data CDs which contained the master data being used on the notebook. No mention of recovery there. And of course, since cds are read-only, there's way to tell if they'd been accessed... if they were recovered. (shrug). As a vet, I'm not feeling any better about this.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    JerseyRich, 29 Jun 2006 @ 1:51pm

    They may very well be right. I found a digital camera once that contained loads of pics. All I did was delete the pics and start taking my own.

    I'd feel better with some credit monitoring though.

    Anyway, how dare anyone question the truthfulness/accuracy of the FBI???? LMAO

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Jeff, 29 Jun 2006 @ 1:57pm

    trade you for an eighth dude...

    The laptop was prolly traded for some weed and the guy who had it, forgot he had it. It took the FBI a few weeks to identify what happened and a few hours to beat the supplier's address out of little Johnny.

    Or maybe bad guys took it and realized that Vets are all underpaid low wage earning Americans that have crappy credit. :(

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    our gov sucks, 29 Jun 2006 @ 2:10pm

    So they recovered the laptop and hard drive, but now admit to records missing since 05 and a data tape missing since may of this year. And on top of it there is evidence the employee who "lost" the laptop had permission to take home all of this information.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    ANON, 29 Jun 2006 @ 2:14pm

    YEAH RIGHT

    Us in the computer industry know ways of copying data off of hard drives without modifiying them...

    take drive out, put in any forensic tool (like the FBI is doing) and read away... no foot print.

    therefore even if analysis shows it wasn't accessed it still might have been......

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Adam, 29 Jun 2006 @ 2:25pm

      Re: YEAH RIGHT

      There's a problem with that. If we start assuming that that's what happened, then we have to assume that whoever stole it in the first place knew what they had. And then the government might be liable for something. This way is much better: the government can start spending money protecting us, thus generating good will before all those projects get quietly shut down; the vets can feel a little better that they really dodged a bullet there, and might not waste some of the little time they have left (in some cases) keeping track of their credit; and the thieves get to have a shopping spree. Everybody wins.

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      dudhaaaa, 29 Jun 2006 @ 3:14pm

      Re: YEAH RIGHT

      "...copying data off of hard drives without modifiying them" - Helix, FTX, Sleuthkit, EnCase(if you got $$$), etc. Hopefully, this was done by some DumbA*s or DumbA*s's and not someone who has a clue; but, if I was one of those names on the drive, I'd definitly sign up for some credit reporting!

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Brian, 1 Jul 2006 @ 1:05am

      Re: YEAH RIGHT

      Hell, just boot using a LiveCD and send the data out the network port. Even if it were formatted in NTFS, if you know what you are doing you can mount it as RO (Read-Only) and never leave a trace on the HD. You don't always have to use tools such as Encase or remove the drive from the PC/Laptop to do a forensic copy/analysis. All it takes is a little thought and the right toolset.

      Despite the FBI assertions this does not give me any warm fuzzies. I'm still waiting for that damn letter on how to activate credit monitoring.

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    randolei4.7128346135479613985469187357923465792634, 29 Jun 2006 @ 3:12pm

    agree with anon. its not that hard.
    ^ ^
    +
    __/

    (hmm interesting thing)

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    R Ahrens, 30 Jun 2006 @ 5:44am

    easy copying

    Yeah, an unencrypted HD is easy to copy - all ya need is a copy of ghost. In less than an hour, you've got it all. restore it to another HD, and you can access it all you want, and the original is essentially untouched.

    That said, being one of those vets, I definately want the gov't to step up here and help us get free credit reports (one per month would be nice) to just be sure.

    Of course, they could be right and it was just some stupid punk looking for drug money - but they don't know who he sold it to, do they...

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 30 Jun 2006 @ 8:05am

    For all the vets whining about credit reports being supplied, thats all BS, Gimme gimme gimme....

    Simply call the three major reporting agencies, or write them. Explain you are a vet and your data may have been compromised and request a fraud alert be placed on your account. They all send you a report for review, and your account is essentially frozen for a period of time. You stop getting all those pesky credit card offers for that period also!

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 30 Jun 2006 @ 9:23am

    Notice that the article say that the FBI plans "more tests". Why? If they can truely tell that that the data has not been accesed, than there should be no need for "more tests". The fact is, is probably impossible to tell if the data was accessed. Since when did the FBI get into the business of helping to cover up crime?

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 30 Jun 2006 @ 10:01am

    "Since when did the FBI get into the business of helping to cover up crime?"

    From the start... How they help depends on who you are.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 30 Jun 2006 @ 1:31pm

    OK, so no one wants to believe that some stupid crook stole a laptop, and then realized from the media what he actually had and who was looking for it?

    Sounds like Robert Redford in the Sting, pulled a con on a mob numbers runner and then his partner gets wacked.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    ted, 21 Nov 2006 @ 12:40pm

    you suck

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    jasmine, 19 May 2007 @ 5:46pm

    emos

    ur sad as im an emo so dn't make fun of them or u will die cock sucer

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    miranda, 6 Sep 2008 @ 7:53pm

    y no se

    los emos son mierda

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]


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