Multiple news organizations reported Friday that a Secret Service agent left her agency-issued computer in a car outside her home, where it was stolen about 3 am.
Authorities are frantically searching for a Secret Service-issued laptop — containing floor plans for Trump Tower, information about the Hillary Clinton email investigation and other national security information — that was stolen from an agent’s car in Brooklyn, police sources told the Daily News Friday.
The car, with Maryland plates, was in the home’s driveway, per witnesses and surveillance video. According to news reports, the thief took:
- the agency-issued computer
- a personal laptop
- ID pins that allow agents entry into security perimeters
- an agency-issued radio
- an access keycard
- other “sensitive” documents
- a black zippered bag with the Secret Service insignia
According to the NY Daily News, the agency computer “doesn’t contain classified information but could be used to access a server that does.” A Secret Service statement said:
Secret Service issued laptops contain multiple layers of security including full disk encryption and are not permitted to contain classified information.
And yet the theft “compromised” national security, according to a CBS report.
Questions not answered in news reports (with no suggestion that they were asked)
- Why would a Secret Service computer contain information about the Clinton email investigation?
- Why would a Secret Service agent leave her work computer, much less everything else reported stolen, overnight in a car?
- Why does the car have Maryland plates? Who owns the car? (Note: it’s possible that it belongs to the agent or her family, as they reportedly moved into the neighborhood last year)
- Is the agent a veteran of the Secret Service or part of the private security service Trump retained after the election?
- Why doesn’t the Secret Service have something like “Find My Device” on its computers? (And yes, I know that this requires an Internet connection.)
- Why doesn’t Secret Service have the ability to remotely wipe a computer, like I do with my (personal) MacBookPro?
- What is the Secret Service policy about agency-issued equipment? Is the agent suspended?
It has not been a good week for the Secret Service.
- Investigation 1: A man who jumped the fences (and a gate) surrounding the White House last Friday was on the grounds for more than 16 minutes before being captured.
- Investigation 2: two agents who were assigned to protect President Trump’s grandson took selfies with the eight-year-old while he was sleeping.
Sources
Known for gnawing at complex questions like a terrier with a bone. Digital evangelist, writer, teacher. Transplanted Southerner; teach newbies to ride motorcycles. @kegill (Twitter and Mastodon.social); wiredpen.com