US government loses nuke computers

The Los Alamos National Laboratory has lost 13 computers over the past year alone

The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico has admitted to the loss of 67 computers, 13 of which went missing in the past year.

The figures came to light after the Project On Government Oversight (Pogo), a public body designed to cut government waste, leaked an internal memo detailing the losses. In one case in January, three computers were stolen from the home of a Los Alamos scientist.

"This Department of Energy memo shows that LANL admits that 67 computers are currently 'missing', and that 13 have been lost or stolen in the past year alone," said Danielle Brian, executive director of Pogo.

"It is troubling that the contractor only informed the government of this during investigations into the most recent thefts."

The Los Alamos Site Office, which administers LANL contracts, also expressed frustration in the memo that LANL was treating the matter as an issue of physical security rather than cyber security.

Other details in the report include that of a Los Alamos employee who lost a BlackBerry device, possibly containing classified information, in a "sensitive foreign country".

"It's great to see that the federal overseer is more aggressively pursuing its oversight role," says Peter Stockton, Pogo senior investigator.

"But the true test of how rigorous the government will be in holding LANL to high security standards will be whether the Los Alamos Site Office significantly cuts LANL's contract performance fees for 2009."