Breach of the week: Baghdad embassy plans posted on the Internet

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Excerpt from the AP story:

Detailed plans for the new U.S. Embassy under construction in Baghdad appeared online Thursday in a breach of the tight security surrounding the sensitive project.

Computer-generated projections of the soon-to-be completed, heavily fortified compound were posted on the Web site of the Kansas City, Mo.-based architectural firm that was contracted to design the massive facility in the Iraqi capital.

The images were removed by Berger Devine Yaeger Inc. shortly after the company was contacted by the State Department.

And now my thoughts:

Wow, how did THAT happen??!! There are really only two:

1. Mistake. Many possible scenarios. A goofed drag-and-drop that put sensitive info into another directory on the file server, which causes them to be automatically posted online. Or, someone restored data from backup, restored to much or into the wrong place. Or, someone picked the wrong directory from a list in web publishing software like Dreamweaver. The possibilities are endless. Bottom line: someone screwed up. Maybe.

2. Deliberate. Someone put the data there, knowing it was wrong to do so. Why? Revenge. Could be. If the company has poor access controls and logging, they may never know who did it.

Links to full story:

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070601/D8PFSK100.html

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070601/tc_nm/iraq_usa_embassy_dc_3

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