Hundreds of Files Copied in Los Alamos Data Breach

More than 400 classified documents from the Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory were contained on the computer memory drives confiscated last month during a New Mexico drug bust, the Los Angeles Times reported (see GSN, Nov. 1).

Authorities also discovered 228 printed documents, which included classified intelligence and weapons information.

The number of documents is greater than previously disclosed by law enforcement agencies, according to the Times.

The drives were found at the home of a former contract laboratory worker, 22-year-old Jessica Quintana, who failed to appreciate the importance or the classification level of the information on the drives, her attorney Stephen Aarons said.

The documents came from the laboratory’s dynamic experiments division, which tests nuclear weapon components, the Times reported.

The laboratory has battled data security breaches for several years and has taken steps to curb any leakage, such as trying to prevent employees from copying classified computer files, according to the Times.  Still, workers retain a significant ability to move files to portable data storage devices, one official told the Times.

The latest breach prompted a visit to the laboratory this week by National Nuclear Security Administration head Linton Brooks and Deputy Energy Secretary Clay Sell, the Times reported (Ralph Vartabedian, Los Angeles Times, Nov. 2).

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