Celebrity Passport Records Popular

2008-07-04 09:18

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/03/AR2008070303799.html By Glenn Kessler Washington Post Staff Writer July 4, 2008 Government workers repeatedly snooped without authorization inside the electronic passport records of entertainers, athletes and other high-profile Americans, a State Department audit has found. One celebrity's records were breached 356 times by more than six dozen people. The audit, by State's inspector general, was prompted by the discovery in March that three of the department's contract workers had peeked at the private passport files of Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain and that a State Department trainee had examined the file of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. The report documented a widespread lack of controls on the personal data of the 127 million Americans who hold passports, finding numerous "weaknesses, including a general lack of policies, procedures, guidance and training." The State Department had maintained that its system worked when the candidates' passport breaches were discovered. "This is unacceptable. The report makes it clear that the private information of over 100 million Americans is vulnerable to unauthorized access," said Sen Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.). [...] _______________________________________________ Attend Black Hat USA, August 2-7 in Las Vegas, the world's premier technical event for ICT security experts. Featuring 40 hands-on training courses and 80 Briefings presentations with lots of new content and new tools. Network with 4,000 delegates from 50 nations. Visit product displays by 30 top sponsors in a relaxed setting. http://www.blackhat.com

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/03/AR2008070303799.html