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SS Agent got a laptop stolen from her car with plans for Trump tower in it.

BillRM said:
As the story stated that the computer was heavily encrypted so Trump should not be at any risk damn it.

Such a computer in the power down condition should be proof against any attacks up a state level attack.

When I first read the headline the first thing that came to my mind was the question of whether the computer was encrypted or not and as it was this is no big deal except for the agent career.

It nice that the government is finally encrypting their laptops decades after I had done so as a matter of course.
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Yeah, if it's encrypted, nothing at all to worry about. Right, comrade?
 
reinoe said:
She was probably an Obama loyalist who gave it to a liberal terrorist.

We know that there are lots of Obama loyalist willing to betray this country...

Secret Service agent under fire after posting she wouldn't take bullet for Trump


This is what happens when you have members in our government who hate America.
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Would you take a bullet for Trump? I hear there's an SS job opening.

Trump's rhetoric and irresponsible behavior makes the job of protecting him a lot more riskier and dangerous than his predecessors...and there are a lot more worthy things to die for than Trump.
 
Not if you're part of the Secret Service.
 
MaggieD said:
Yeah, if it's encrypted, nothing at all to worry about. Right, comrade?
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Well if it was my computer with the level of information that my computer normally contain no I would not be worry or concern other then with the small cost of replacing the computer in question.

But then I am not a Trump supporter kind of person.
 
reinoe said:
She gave someone the information to access the laptop and then pretended it got stolen. This is obviously what happened.
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Sorry once more but without the pass phase and any key file that computer is nothing more of less then a paperweight so the excuse for the information leaking due to the laptop being stolen would not fly at all.
 
Moot said:
Would you take a bullet for Trump? I hear there's an SS job opening.

Trump's rhetoric and irresponsible behavior makes the job of protecting him a lot more riskier and dangerous than his predecessors...and there are a lot more worthy things to die for than Trump.
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That list of more worthy things to die for would in my opinion include my own cats and dogs as not only are they far more loving and honest but they are far far less likely to begin a war including a nuclear war then Trump.
 
BillRM said:
Well I never work for the government but I happen to have information on my computers that control over half a million dollars of investment on average and from time to time leave one of those computers in my car.

The only thing I am risking is the hardware cost of the computer in question thanks to full disk encryption at the AES level.
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What you do is your business. It isn't the normal protocol for an SS agent to leave their laptop and sensitive folders in their auto. And a theft of this nature would not have been leaked to the press, especially the content that the folders and laptop contained. The whole thing stinks to high heaven.
 
vesper said:
What you do is your business. It isn't the normal protocol for an SS agent to leave their laptop and sensitive folders in their auto. And a theft of this nature would not have been leaked to the press, especially the content that the folders and laptop contained. The whole thing stinks to high heaven.
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I am a retired engineer and as far as subject/context material on a government laptop not being released to the press and or leak to the press that is nothing new as a fast google search will show many such cases.

For example the case below where there was no protection even on the computer in question.

Footnote I try to post other examples but this website would not allow such long postings but once more a fast google search will find all the examples that any one would care to see.

As many thousands of laptops go missing in airports alone every day of the week the only sure protection for government or personal computers is to have the laptops encrypted.

Stolen NIH Laptop Held Social Security Numbers

Social Security numbers for more than 1,200 participants in a National Institutes of Health study were stored on a stolen laptop containing their medical records, putting those patients at risk of identity theft, agency officials said yesterday.

NIH officials had initially assured the more than 3,000 patients whose records were on the laptop that the computer's contents -- unencrypted, in violation of federal policy -- did not contain any information that could put their identity or finances at risk.

But an ongoing review of the computer's last-known contents, performed on data backed up from the laptop before it was stolen, has found a file that, unbeknownst to the lead researcher, had been loaded onto the laptop by a research associate.

That file included Social Security numbers for at least 1,281 of the 3,078 patients enrolled in the multi-year study, which is sponsored by the NIH's National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI).
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BillRM said:
Well I never work for the government but I happen to have information on my computers that control over half a million dollars of investment on average and from time to time leave one of those computers in my car.
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$500k? Pfft. That's chump change.

Even so, let's say your laptop got stolen. What would you do? Would you inform your clients, and suggest they make appropriate changes to ensure they don't get compromised? Or would you say "it got stolen, but it's encrypted, so don't sweat it!"

If this laptop was stolen by some junkie looking for a quick fix, I'd say there is nothing to be worried about. If it was stolen by a foreign entity (not likely, but possible), I'd be a bit worried.
 
BillRM said:
I am a retired engineer and as far as subject/context material on a government laptop not being released to the press and or leak to the press that is nothing new as a fast google search will show many such cases.

For example the case below where there was no protection even on the computer in question.
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The idea the very day the theft was reported and the contents it included leaked to the NY Daily News just doesn't add up. The information on Trump Tower alone could have locations where SS agents are positioned, things like the air vac system and other concerns in securing a building. Don't forget the First Lady and their son Barron are still residing at Trump Tower. There is no way in Sam Hill that information would have been leaked out that quickly unless on purpose.

In the last week alone we have had three instances reported on SS that failed in their duties.

1. SS agent taking selfies with the sleeping grandchild of the president.
2. A fence jumper at the White House on the property for 20 minutes before being captured getting very close to where the president was sleeping.
3. SS agent leaving her laptop and sensitive files in her car being stolen which could put the First Family at risk.
 
Visbek said:
$500k? Pfft. That's chump change.

Even so, let's say your laptop got stolen. What would you do? Would you inform your clients, and suggest they make appropriate changes to ensure they don't get compromised? Or would you say "it got stolen, but it's encrypted, so don't sweat it!"

If this laptop was stolen by some junkie looking for a quick fix, I'd say there is nothing to be worried about. If it was stolen by a foreign entity (not likely, but possible), I'd be a bit worried.
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Well I am happy that you and your family are doing so well that 500 thousands is chump change but it is a large fraction of my personal wealthy at the moment and I would not give it a moment of worried other then replacing that laptop and loading the information back on a new laptop.

Now as our command and control and other elements of our military including our nuclear forces depend on how secure our encrypted technology is or is not if a foreign government can break into that SS laptop we would have other problems far beyond the plans for Trump Tower or Hillary email copies or whatever.

footnote as far as reporting lost to clients legal requirements it is my understanding that would depend on it the information was encrypted or not undercurrent laws.

I would need to do more checking to be sure but that the last I read it is my understanding if the information is encrypted banks and insurance companies and so on do not need to report the lost.
 
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BillRM said:
As the story stated that the computer was heavily encrypted so Trump should not be at any risk damn it.

Such a computer in the power down condition should be proof against any attacks up a state level attack.

When I first read the headline the first thing that came to my mind was the question of whether the computer was encrypted or not and as it was this is no big deal except for the agent career.

It nice that the government is finally encrypting their laptops decades after I had done so as a matter of course.
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She should be terminated

But with 23,years service she might still get her pension

Damn it
 
Mac77 said:
She should be terminated

But with 23,years service she might still get her pension

Damn it
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I question if she should be terminated as would she be less guilty if her home was broken into and the laptop taken then her car on her property was broken into and if so why would that be?

How about if the laptop was ripped off her going through airport security as thousands are everyday of the week in the US?

Laptops by their very nature are prone to being lost and or stolen that is why all laptops that have anything of important on them should be encrypted.
 
BillRM said:
As the story stated that the computer was heavily encrypted so Trump should not be at any risk damn it.

Such a computer in the power down condition should be proof against any attacks up a state level attack.

When I first read the headline the first thing that came to my mind was the question of whether the computer was encrypted or not and as it was this is no big deal except for the agent career.

It nice that the government is finally encrypting their laptops decades after I had done so as a matter of course.
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Did you mean with your first line that you wish harm to Trump over this?
 
BillRM said:
I question if she should be terminated as would she be less guilty if her home was broken into and the laptop taken then her car on her property was broken into and if so why would that be?

How about if the laptop was ripped off her going through airport security as thousands are everyday of the week in the US?

Laptops by their very nature are prone to being lost and or stolen that is why all laptops that have anything of important on them should be encrypted.
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Maybe she should not have left it in her car to begin with
 
I wonder what the protocols are.

From Hot Air:

Alarmingly, if the Daily News’s sources are right, this doesn’t look like a smash-and-grab crime of opportunity in which a thief just happened to be passing by. The thief arrived on the agent’s street in a car, possibly an Uber, and got out of the back passenger side; the agent’s car was parked in her driveway. After he took the bag, he left on foot. Either this was a very unlucky petty theft in which the perp just happened to stop near the home of a Secret Service agent and robbed her car completely randomly or she was targeted deliberately. Today in security: Secret Service lost sensitive laptop with Trump Tower info on it, needed 15 minutes to catch WH fence jumper « Hot Air
 
Mason66 said:
Did you mean with your first line that you wish harm to Trump over this?
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Wish harm to Trump? Let me put it this way if he would cut his throat while shaving I would not be heart broken for as long as he is president we and the world as a whole are at risk of harm as in my opinion his being president is similar to giving a five years old a working and loaded trompson machine gun to play with.
 
BillRM said:
Wish harm to Trump? Let me put it this way if he would cut his throat while shaving I would not be heart broken for as long as he is president we and the world as a whole are at risk of harm as in my opinion his being president is similar to giving a five years old a working and loaded trompson machine gun to play with.
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You said that Trump wouldn't be at risk, "damn it."

Look, McConnell said he wanted Obama to fail, but he didn't wish any harm upon him. You're taking it somewhere else.
 
Mac77 said:
Maybe she should not have left it in her car to begin with
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An howabout the thousand and one other places she could had let the laptop such as the belt at airport security?

Other then the cost of the laptop no harm was likely to had been done.
 
BillRM said:
An howabout the thousand and one other places she could had let the laptop such as the belt at airport security?

Other then the cost of the laptop no harm was likely to had been done.
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You clearly haven't read the story of the theft.

If a random thief, walks gets out of a car, approaches another car, goes after a laptop that's left out in the open in the car, and then walks away swiftly, it's theft. To make a home burglury analogy....

A house is broken into, but nothing is disrupted. The only thing that get's stolen is a ruby hidden behind the fireplace.
 
reinoe said:
You clearly haven't read the story of the theft.

If a random thief, walks gets out of a car, approaches another car, goes after a laptop that's left out in the open in the car, and then walks away swiftly, it's theft. To make a home burglury analogy....

A house is broken into, but nothing is disrupted. The only thing that get's stolen is a ruby hidden behind the fireplace.
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If it can be shown that the agent took part in the robbery that is another matter but that is a big if to go by way of a claim newspaper report.

Once more unless the agent is herself involved little harm had been done and she would need to be very very stupid to hand over information in that manner.

Let see using 7-zip zip the files with AES and then by way of tor open a gmail account using a pubic wifi and placed the zip file in the draft area for later picked up by anyone anywhere in the world.

There is no earthly reason to stage a robbery to move those files!!!!!!!!!

footnote you might wish to boot using another OS to keep the copying of the files out of the laptop system log files.
 
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vesper said:
The idea the very day the theft was reported and the contents it included leaked to the NY Daily News just doesn't add up. The information on Trump Tower alone could have locations where SS agents are positioned, things like the air vac system and other concerns in securing a building. Don't forget the First Lady and their son Barron are still residing at Trump Tower. There is no way in Sam Hill that information would have been leaked out that quickly unless on purpose.

In the last week alone we have had three instances reported on SS that failed in their duties.

1. SS agent taking selfies with the sleeping grandchild of the president.
2. A fence jumper at the White House on the property for 20 minutes before being captured getting very close to where the president was sleeping.
3. SS agent leaving her laptop and sensitive files in her car being stolen which could put the First Family at risk.
Click to expand...

Once more the stealing of the computer is zero threat as unless the agent was involved to the point of handing over the pass phrases and any key files the computer is a paperweight only to the person or persons who stole it.
 
'according to two senior New York law enforcement officials'

Stories based on hearsay or from sources who refuse to give their name(s), usually mean little to me.
 
BillRM said:
Well I am happy that you and your family are doing so well that 500 thousands is chump change but it is a large fraction of my personal wealthy at the moment....
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Oh, it's not chump change to me personally. It's chump change as far as client investment data can go. To a hedge fund, $500k is a rounding error. :mrgreen:

I'd also say that if you have $500k in investments, you probably have it in accounts that have some sort of theft or fraud protection. (E.g. companies like Vanguard and Fidelity offer fraud protection, including monitoring). That's less likely if you're moving $10 million in a single trade.


footnote as far as reporting lost to clients legal requirements it is my understanding that would depend on it the information was encrypted or not undercurrent laws.

I would need to do more checking to be sure but that the last I read it is my understanding if the information is encrypted banks and insurance companies and so on do not need to report the lost.
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Never mind the laws. If you had encrypted client data on your laptop, and it was stolen, would you or would you not inform your client?
 
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