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Story URL: http://software.silicon.com/security/0,39024655,39127477,00.htm

File share blunder leaks military docs to blogger
Look away now if stupidity offends...

By Will Sturgeon

Published: Monday 31 January 2005

A blogger has exposed a massive security blunder by the Dutch military which saw highly sensitive documents shared with users of the popular file-sharing application Kazaa.

According to web blog Geenstijl, the problem occurred when an administrator within the military's border control division took unencrypted documents home to work on them and somehow managed to drop the files into the shared folder he used to swap content with other Kazaa members.

His blunder meant anybody in the world could potentially have accessed the 75-page document, which reportedly contained details of phone-tapping operations.

Geenstijl, which uncovered the security lapse, has received praise for not publishing the documents or releasing them into the wild. Peter Jaco, CEO of encryption specialist BeCrypt, who works closely with the UK government, told silicon.com: "It's a good job the people who discovered these materials were ethical, but it still shows the need for companies to give more consideration to how they protect their data."

"More and more people are working remotely and we still hear far too many stories about PDAs and laptops being left in the backs of taxis or in nightclubs," said Jaco.

As with the implementation of other security measures, Jaco believes it will take a number of high profile victims to fall prey to blunders such as this before they consider the extent of their own risk.

"This latest Dutch incident will help focus the mind on the importance of encryption," said Jaco.