Sensitive data removal was failed by NASA on some computers the institution put up for sale as it shuts down its Space Shuttle program, reads an auditor’s report released on Tuesday.
As NASA is shutting down the program next year, it is trying to get rid of many items in surplus. However, in the process of preparing some of the computers and hard drives for sale, a serious security breach occurred at the centers in California, Texas, Florida and Virginia, as sensitive information was still on the components when they were tested for compliance.
In a statement released by Paul Martin, inspector general at NASA, the institution’s information and technology department needs to address the issues which could have lead to the release of classified information about NASA programs, including but not limited to Space Shuttle.
According to the report, some 14 computers did not pass the test that was to determine if they were cleaned of classified information. All the computers were from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). Furthermore, ten of those computers had already been sold.
The report also said that inspectors found missing data storage drives from KSC and the research center in Langley, Virginia, and that some of the drives were found in a dumpster with public access.
Investigators also discovered that the graphic markings of IP addresses on some of the computers had not been removed, which posed a serious cyber-threat as it would facilitate hackers’ access to the internal NASA network.