Computer failure or human error is suspected of leaking details of the permit system at a U.S. Air Force base on to the Internet. In theory it could allow criminals or other outside forces to create a permit to enter the territory of one of the U.S. military’s key bases in the Far East.
A serious confidential data leak has occurred at the U.S. Air Force base in Misawa in the north of Japan’s main island of Honshu, newsru.com reports.
A detailed description of the permits issued to building contractors and their vehicles recently appeared on the Internet. Using that information, criminals could forge the documents required to enter one of the U.S. military’s key Far Eastern bases. Despite the serious nature of the compromised data, officials at the base have taken no measures to change the permit system since the leak two months ago.
The exact cause of the leak is unclear, though some experts suggest that the information found its way on to the Internet after a glitch in the computer system. At the same time, they have not ruled out the possibility of “human error".
“Regardless of what caused the leak, confidential data has ended up on the Internet. It is difficult to judge just how effective the response has been at the base because we don’t know what kind of system of physical security they have there. However, the effectiveness of the IT security system can be assessed. I believe the personnel responsible for classifying data at the base are unaware just how important permit information is. Otherwise, that information would have been classified in such a way so that it could never be accessed by the public, even if there was a software failure," says Denis Zenkin, marketing director at InfoWatch.
Source: Newsru.com
