INFOSEC? We don't need no steekin' INFOSEC

[AdamG]

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2008/06/11/5843531-ap.html

LONDON - The British government says a senior intelligence official in the cabinet office has been suspended after secret government documents were left on a commuter train.

The documents on al-Qaida and Iraq were found by a passenger on a London commuter train Tuesday. The passenger gave the documents to the British Broadcasting Corp. The government's decision to suspend the employee comes as police launch a major investigation into the security breach. An internal inquiry is also under way.

One of the documents was a seven-page report on al-Qaida's weaknesses.

The second document was top secret and contained an assessment of Iraq's security forces.

[Fuchs]

Well, two scenarios:

a) It was a deliberate action, and the contained information was manufactured to influence the media.

b) It was a true scandal and the BBC will be a good source on these issues in the next months.

C) It was a true scandal and the BBC will be a poor source on these issues in the next months because the intelligence wasn't really good.

[davidbfpo]

The accidental leaving of two Top Secret documents on a commuter train, in an envelope, which is then handed into the BBC and then the police called is indeed a security issue. One document was a Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) assessment of AQ, the JIC being at the apex of the UK intelligence structure, with professionals attending, not elected politicians and oh yes, a CIA rep always attends.

A JIC assessment would normally never leave the office and would have a very strict circulation list. The document if taken out of the office should have remained in a steel briefcase and not read on a train.

Whether this is an amazing disinformation exercise - which I doubt - will not be known for years.

davidbfpo

[davidbfpo]

A better explanation of what happened: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article4121544.ece

If true the civil servant / officer could be prosecuted. The civil servant undertaking the investigation, seperate from the police's, is Sir David Omand, a retired senior civil servant, known for his very sharp questioning and delivered in a serene, calm manner.

davidbfpo

[SWJED]

The accidental leaving of two Top Secret documents on a commuter train, in an envelope, which is then handed into the BBC and then the police called is indeed a security issue. One document was a Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) assessment of AQ, the JIC being at the apex of the UK intelligence structure, with professionals attending, not elected politicians and oh yes, a CIA rep always attends.

A JIC assessment would normally never leave the office and would have a very strict circulation list. The document if taken out of the office should have remained in a steel briefcase and not read on a train.

Whether this is an amazing disinformation exercise - which I doubt - will not be known for years.

davidbfpo

David,

Thanks for the insight on the JIC assessment. Left on a train, holy moly...

Dave

[davidbfpo]

New story: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1026365/Anti-terror-police-chief-laptop-stolen.html

The Deputy Chief Constable, Avon & Somerset Police, has his un-encrypted laptop stolen; a laptop able to connect to police systems and with information that should not be there un-encrypted.

Now, what will happen to him?

davidbfpo

[davidbfpo]

Secret briefing papers on FATF meeting left on a London commuter train: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/jun/14/uksecurity.terrorism

This time handed to a newspaper.

davidbfpo

[William F. Owen]

The accidental leaving of two Top Secret documents on a commuter train, in an envelope, which is then handed into the BBC and then the police called is indeed a security issue.

...and this is at least the 5th time this has happened. Remember the lost SIS laptop left in a pub in South London?

[AdamG]

Exclusive: New batch of terror files left on train

IoS returns confidential documents to Treasury as officials promise to tighten procedures

By Simon Evans and Margareta Pagano
Sunday, 15 June 2008

Secret government documents detailing the UK's policies towards fighting global terrorist funding, drugs trafficking and money laundering have been found on a London-bound train and handed to 'The Independent on Sunday'.

The government papers, left on a train destined for Waterloo station, on Wednesday, contain criticism of countries such as Iran that are signed up to the global Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an inter-governmental body created to combat financial crime and the financing of terrorism.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/exclusive-new-batch-of-terror-files-left-on-train-847451.html