Watchdog warns FBI is very sloppy on safe data storagewww.theregister.comNational security data up for grabs, Office of the Inspector General finds

The OIG report notes that it found boxes of hard drives and removable storage sitting open and unattended for "days or even weeks" because they were only sealed once the boxes were full. This potentially allows any of the 395 staff and contractors with access to the facility to have a rummage around.

To deal with this, the FBI is installing wire cages to lock away storage media. In December, the bureau said it would install a video surveillance system at the evidence destruction storage facility to tighten security. As of June this year, it was still processing the paperwork to do so.

The OIG also found that FBI agents aren't tracking hard drives and removable storage sent into the central office and the destruction facility. Typically, seized computers are tagged for tracking, but as a cost-saving measure, agents are advised to send in media storage devices containing national security information without the chassis. While there is a requirement to tag removable storage, there isn't the same requirement for internal hard drives.

"The lack of inventory controls over the FBI’s electronic storage media increases the FBI’s risks of having thumb drives, disk drives, and hard drives or solid-state drives lost or stolen after they have been extracted from the larger electronic component, such as a laptop or a server," the report states.

"Also, the FBI does not mark these electronic media to identify the level of classification of the information contained in the storage device. The lack of accountability over these media, as well as the lack of internal physical access control and adequate camera coverage at relevant areas at the Facility, unnecessarily places electronic storage media at risk of loss or theft without the possibility of detection."