Missing State Department laptops turn up

Updated 11:10 a.m. PST Thursday May 8 with information that laptops were located

Hundreds of laptops used by the U.S. Department of State that were missing have been located, according to a report in the Congressional Quarterly.

Auditors found that the State Department had lost track of about $30 million worth of equipment, most of it laptops, the initial Congressional Quarterly report says.

Given the sensitive and often secret nature of data the State Department workers deal with, officials had been bracing for repercussions like congressional hearings, according to CQ. That's what happened when a Veterans Administration official had a laptop stolen in 2006, IRS laptops went missing in 2001, and a State Department laptop containing the names of foreign agents working for the U.S. government was stolen in 1999.

News of the missing laptops first surfaced in late March in an anonymous post on the Dead Men Working blog written by foreign service officers.

[Seanathome]

God bless America! Land of Mis-placed Goods! ;)

[AppleSuxLeo]

As Kevin Mitnick points out , the human is the weak link in security.

[Leria]

I agree. Human beings are the biggest threat to security, but I don't think that we want a computer like in one episode of MacGyver that can think for itself and go loony either.<br />The best thing to do: make these people sign an agreement saying that they would be responsible for the replacement cost of the laptop if they lost it (not if it was stolen).

[gmertz]

I love to pay my taxes so they can throw the money away.

[gmertz]

I love to pay my taxes so they can throw the money away.

[gmertz]

I love to pay my taxes so they can throw the money away. NOT

[slkirish]

This story's a week old already. Not to discount all the incompetence and waste in government, but these laptops have already been 'found': <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=5&#38;docID=hsnews-000002717866" target="_newWindow">http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=5&#38;docID=hsnews-000002717866</a>

[Stating]

Missing just like the WMDs <br /><br />Obviously Curveball took the missing laptops, just like he took the Iraq WMDs. Never did find THOSE did we. In teh grand scheme of things, a $2 trillion war is a lot worse than 400 missing laptops.

[Stating]

Missing just like the WMDs <br /><br />Obviously Curveball took the missing laptops, just like he took the Iraq WMDs. Never did find THOSE did we. In teh grand scheme of things, a $2 trillion war is a lot worse than 400 missing laptops.

[bruceslog]

They just found $30 MILLION dollars worth of equipment ? ! <br />did someone leave it all in the mop closet ?

[bruceslog]

They just found $30 MILLION dollars worth of equipment ? ! <br />did someone leave it all in the mop closet ?

[benjaminstraight]

benjamin straight writes: Dangerous. Glad it was recovered. THis is much different than misplacing a filing cabinet years ago.