A recent report told that highly sensitive and top secret government documents were leaked to peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing networks, prompting the House Government Oversight & Government Reform Committee to conduct an emergency meeting to discuss the growing problem of inadvertent file-sharing channeled through P2P websites.
The documents, dated July 2009, were allegedly used by the US Secret Service to find the exact route and location of former First Lady Laura Bush’s safehouse. Also included in the leaked documents were the precise location of structures and missile silos, which holds nuclear weapons and fuel.
Users who logged in to P2P networks were also able to view surveillance photos of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of an alleged mafia hitman. Along with the photos were documents of the person’s trial and the names of people who testified against him.
Some of the names were highly secured people, who availed the government’s witness protection program.
During the hearing at the House Government Oversight & Government Reform Committee, congressmen tackled the issue by questioning P2P executives on the security of the websites.
Tiversa Inc. chief executive Robert Boback said that their investigation found even more vital information such as lists of social security numbers for every master sergeant of the US Army. Even their information about their families was also recorded in the document.
“We even found medical records of some 24, 000 plus patients at a hospital in Texas,” Boback said during the committee hearing.
Tiversa Inc. is the company who led the investigation that searched for these sensitive data in the file-sharing websites.
Boback said that they were able to trace the P2P users who downloaded and shared the files in four locations in France.
He said that these facilities were top secret to the extent that it is not accessible even under the Freedom of Information Act. And yet, users can download it in plain text using P2P networks.
Nicely played.
The government leaks on themself, giving a reason to further tighten the noose on P2P.
Absolutely brilliant.