The Ministry of National Defense (MND) has stepped up measures to avoid classified information leaks concerning this year’s Han Kuang military exercise as computer-based warfare simulation for the exercise gets underway.
An official with the ministry’s communications and electronics department, who wishes to remain anonymous, told the Taipei Times that in addition to constant renewals of virus protection on the computers and constant education and reminders for its personnel, a stricter security measure has been implemented whereby no related personnel may continue their work outside the office after office hours.
All computers and disks with classified information must remain onsite and they must be formatted when the entire project is finished, the official said.
PAST ERRORS
Last year an official involved in the warfare simulation for the Han Kuang military exercise brought his laptop with classified information home and continued to work after office hours. When downloading software from Chinese Web sites onto his laptop, back-door access programs were also installed. Hackers then stole the classified information from his computer without the officer’s knowledge.
THREE THREATS
Usually the department’s major challenges include human errors, hacker attacks and virus problems, the official said. Most human error is the result of negligence when some military personnel bring USB disks or laptops with classified information home to continue their work.
Some other service men and women might not strictly follow the rules to format related disks or delete classified information when they have finished their work.
“Many officers work too hard. They brought home information that should never leave the house after office hours otherwise. They never thought that classified information would leak just like that,” the official said. “As the result, we have constantly educated our fellow military personnel and I believe mistakes like that will be decreased and avoided.”
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