[ISN] MSDF finds defense data on officer's PCs

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http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20080309a3.html

Kyodo News
March 9, 2008

In what appears to be its latest example of lax information management, 
the Maritime Self-Defense Force has discovered defense documents and 
file-sharing software on the private computers of a 34-year-old 
lieutenant, sources familiar with the matter said.

The MSDF is attempting to determine whether the data include 
confidential files, they said.

The officer was found in Maizuru, Kyoto Prefecture, on Wednesday after 
fleeing following questioning on Feb. 23 about a leak of classified 
information by the MSDF, including data on the Aegis air-defense system 
used on U.S. and Japanese destroyers.

The officer, who is assigned to the MSDF's Maizuru headquarters, began 
storing data on his computers about 10 years ago and added information 
from a number of units he was assigned to, the sources said.

He also apparently failed to obey recent directives from the Defense 
Ministry to delete sensitive data and file-sharing software from private 
computers, they said.

The officer had five to six computers at home, including one with 
file-sharing software installed and at least one other containing the 
defense data, they said.

He was previously found to have stored confidential defense data that 
apparently contained information on the Aegis system, they said.

The Aegis data leak, which came to light in January 2004, resulted in 
the indictment of MSDF Lt. Commander Sumitaka Matsuuchi, 34, on a charge 
of violating the Law Concerning the Protection of Secrets for the 
Japan-U.S. Mutual Defense Assistance.


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