US military files on lost $15 MP3 player recovered

Earlier this week it was reported widely in the media that a New Zealand man had discovered confidential US military files on a $15 MP3 player he had bought at an Oklahoma thrift shop.

29-year-old Chris Ogle found on the MP3 player data containing the names, cellphone numbers, social security numbers and other personal details of US soldiers serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. In addition the USB device contained information about a mission briefing and equipment deployed to bases.

ONE News in New Zealand went so far as to ring some of the phone numbers on the device to confirm their accuracy.

All of this is, of course, highly embarrassing for the US military.

Last November, Wired reported that the US Army was cracking down on…

Read more in my article on the Naked Security website.

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Graham Cluley •   @gcluley

Graham Cluley is a veteran of the anti-virus industry having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent security analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of computer security, hackers, and online privacy. Follow him on Twitter at @gcluley, on Mastodon at @[email protected], or drop him an email.