Is it secure to store sensitive information on the internet???

A computer hacker in the US stole sensitive information on 1,500 people working for the nuclear weapons unit of the Energy Department in the United States, but neither the theft victims nor senior officials were notified for nine months, US administration officials acknowledged recently at a congressional hearing. The theft, at a National Nuclear Security Administration centre in Albuquerque, (New Mexico), involved names, Social Security numbers, birth dates and information on where the people worked and their security clearances.

The leak, on the heels of a much larger breach in the Veterans Affairs Department, is sure to raise new alarms about cybersecurity and may provide those opposed to such a heavy dependence on the internet in such matters more grist to attack. The disclosure of the breach and the fact that Energy Secretary Samuel W Bodman and his top aides were not told for months, caused outrage at a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee subcommittee on oversight and investigations.

The National Nuclear Security Administration was set up in the Energy Department in 2000, partly in response to fears of Chinese espionage. It includes 37,000 federal employees, military people and contractors responsible in part for designing and maintaining nuclear weapons. Officials declined to explain in the public session why the 1,500 people affected were not told at once, but he promised to tell committee members more about that in a closed meeting. The loss of files with names, Social Security numbers and birthdays creates the potential for crimes related to identity theft.

The hearing did not make clear the outcome of the case. When accompanying data on security clearances and work stations is stolen, someone might glean enough information to “try to get people to do things they shouldn’t” through threats, blackmail or other pressure.

“Somebody’s ID has a real value, a monetary value,”