Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by janrinok on Friday October 23 2015, @08:51AM   Printer-friendly
from the if-it's-valuable-encrypt-it dept.

A desktop computer and hard drive stolen from the University of Washington Center for Human Rights stored sensitive details of human rights violations in El Salvador and a lawsuit against the Central Intelligence Agency:

Sometime between October 15-18, the office of Dr. Angelina Godoy, Director of the University of Washington Center for Human Rights, was broken into by unknown parties. Her desktop computer was stolen, as well as a hard drive containing about 90% of the information relating to our research in El Salvador. While we have backups of this information, what worries us most is not what we have lost but what someone else may have gained: the files include sensitive details of personal testimonies and pending investigations.

This could, of course, be an act of common crime. But we are concerned because it is also possible this was an act of retaliation for our work. There are a few elements that make this an unusual incident. First, there was no sign of forcible entry; the office was searched but its contents were treated carefully and the door was locked upon exit, characteristics which do not fit the pattern of opportunistic campus theft. Prof. Godoy's office was the only one targeted, although it is located midway down a hallway of offices, all containing computers. The hard drive has no real resale value, so there seems no reason to take it unless the intention was to extract information. Lastly, the timing of this incident—in the wake of the recent publicity around our freedom of information lawsuit against the CIA regarding information on a suspected perpetrator of grave human rights violations in El Salvador—invites doubt as to potential motives.

We have contacted colleagues in El Salvador, many of whom have emphasized parallels between this incident and attacks Salvadoran human rights organizations have experienced in recent years. While we cannot rule out the possibility of this having been an incident of common crime, we are deeply concerned that this breach of information security may increase the vulnerability of Salvadoran human rights defenders with whom we work.

Reported at KPLU and KUOW.


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 1) by PocketSizeSUn on Friday October 23 2015, @06:14PM

    by PocketSizeSUn (5340) on Friday October 23 2015, @06:14PM (#253686)

    Is very unlikely to have been a sanctioned activity. The proper method would just insert one of may low level key loggers and/or root kits. A theft just puts everyone on guard. More likely someone involved in the case wants to sling some mud at the CIA in some misguided attempt at justice. Another possibility is that some guilty person is hoping to find if they have been found out and/or who they need to keep from talking, as it were.

    The CIA probably deserves all the mud you can sling ... just unfortunate that it probably backfire and damage any legal activity in progress.

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by frojack on Friday October 23 2015, @07:57PM

    by frojack (1554) on Friday October 23 2015, @07:57PM (#253731) Journal

    Since the CIA is already aware of the FIOA suit [washington.edu], they would have little reason to steal the computer. They already know exactly what documents are being sought.

    information relating to Salvadoran Col. Sigifredo Ochoa Pérez (Ret.) were denied on national security grounds. We are aware of at least 20 CIA documents responsive to our request that have already been declassified. The fact that the CIA has failed to, at minimum, grant us access to those same documents suggests they chose not to take their FOIA obligations seriously.

    I would suspect Ochoa or his friends to be the logical suspects here. Some of those friends are/were probably in the US Military.

    I wonder If UW knew these documents were already declassified at the time of the request, or if they became declassified later? It matters because FIOA does not contain any requirement to revisit each prior FIOA-request upon subsequent declassification actions.

    --
    No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.