FBI Called Out For Improperly Storing Obsolete Media
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) needs to be more careful in the way it handles sensitive electronic media destined for destruction.
In a new management advisory, the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General (DOJ OIG) discovered numerous concerns in the way the FBI was handling the outdated media before it was destroyed, with the IG noting that the FBI’s lack of oversight is putting sensitive law enforcement and potentially classified information at risk.
Areas of Concern
The IG noted concerns in three different areas: accounting for media, labeling media, and physically storing media.
First, the report found that the FBI is not always accounting for loose electronic storage media “including hard drives that were extracted from computers and servers, thumb drives, and floppy disks.”
The FBI, which also requires internal hard drives to be shipped separate for cost savings, also does not have the ability to confirm whether information was properly destroyed.
Second are the labeling issues.
The IG found that while the FBI put classification labels on computers and servers, “internal electronic storage media pulled from them are not labeled.” That means they are essentially “stand-alone assets” without any way to tell if they contain sensitive information. Small media flash drives were also not identified in violation of FBI and DOJ policies.
The third concern was physical security.
According to the IG, some of the media was stored for a long time on pallets in an unnamed facility that was not properly guarded.
In addition, the unmarked media was mixed in with devices marked both “classified” and “secret” in a building with 400 workers, including contractors.
“There is no physical barrier preventing FBI and non-FBI personnel and contractors from other facility operations from accessing PTI’s (Property Turn-In) work area and the pallets of unsanitized assets in the facility shelving space,” the IG wrote.
Also noted was the fact that the building’s classified accreditation expired in 2016. It wasn’t until January 2024 that the FBI issued an updated one.
The IG made three recommendations including beefing up physical security and properly labeling and tracking items. The FBI concurred with those recommendations.