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Laptop stolen from Pelosi's office during storming of U.S. Capitol, says aide

reuters.com

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Re: Laptop stolen from Pelosi's office during storming of U.S. Capitol, says aide

#61

Post by smcl »

sangnoir wrote: post #51
cperciva wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They were understaffed, and it was clear that they could not protect both the building and the people. They correctly prioritized evacuating the people.

They turned down an offer from the Pentagon to supplement manpower, days before the protest. Why? A police department with an intelligence unit couldn't guess that things might get a little out of hand when 3 weeks before, the President publicly used Twitter to ask his followers[1] to attend a "wild" protest on January 6th? Not that an intelligence unit was required as the plans were in the open. I have great difficu…

For this specific decision I think we can put it down to incompetence over malice - it'd presumably be easy for whoever was co-ordinating it dismiss all the riot talks as bluster and figure it'd just be yet another protest with a lot of shouting. I imagine we'll hear more about it, but I would be surprised if it was a co-ordinated effort in concert with the rioters (I don't know what to call them).

The footage of police opening barriers and stuff, and taking selfies is however a bit more worrying. I think it's pretty well known that individuals within the police could identify or sympathise with Q or the far right - so if it turns out that this footage was exactly what it's seems to be (and we know how easily things can be misrepresented and shown out of context) then I imagine some cops are gonna be in big trouble.

Re: Laptop stolen from Pelosi's office during storming of U.S. Capitol, says aide

#62

Post by jordache »

coldcode wrote: post #24
spzb wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Given that Pelosi's desktop was logged on and unlocked, there's a fair chance the laptop was too which would render full disk encryption useless. As long as whoever stole it didn't close it and send it to sleep anyway.

Not the brightest of bulbs, I bet they closed it to carry it away.

I'm sure they didn't send in their best IT experts in the first wave. Billy Bob likely won't know to keep the machine from going to sleep, esp in the chaotic scene.

Re: Laptop stolen from Pelosi's office during storming of U.S. Capitol, says aide

#64

Post by eunos »

stuff4ben wrote: post #57
ascales wrote: post #4

Clearly a big deal and congressional IT staff are going to have a crazy few weeks ahead of them. However, my understanding is that any classified information would have to be in a SCIF. I assume that would be the case with congresspeople as well. I've also heard that the congressional paging system locks devices when an emergency is announced, but haven't seen that corroborated anywhere. Anyone know if that's true?

What is a "SCIF"?

Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensitive_Compartmented_Inform...

Re: Laptop stolen from Pelosi's office during storming of U.S. Capitol, says aide

#65

Post by mumblemumble »

ceejayoz wrote: post #39
mumblemumble wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess? I would have expected the doors to put up a fight, too. But it doesn't sound like there was much forced entry going on beyond getting into the building itself. At my own workplace, all the areas that are not intended for public use - office blocks and most meeting rooms, for example - are locked at all times and have keycard access. Defense in depth, y'know? And we're not even a juicy target like the US Capi…

Congress isn't really one office, though. It's hundreds of individually run ones, each intended to serve the public fairly frequently. You can (generally) pop in and see your congressperson and/or their staff if you want.

You can pop in and see me, too. You just need to check in at the front desk, and can't wander around sensitive areas un-escorted.

Re: Laptop stolen from Pelosi's office during storming of U.S. Capitol, says aide

#67

Post by jw887c »

stuff4ben wrote: post #57
ascales wrote: post #4

Clearly a big deal and congressional IT staff are going to have a crazy few weeks ahead of them. However, my understanding is that any classified information would have to be in a SCIF. I assume that would be the case with congresspeople as well. I've also heard that the congressional paging system locks devices when an emergency is announced, but haven't seen that corroborated anywhere. Anyone know if that's true?

What is a "SCIF"?

Special room for classified stuff. Even once you're inside the classified room (usually windowless and behind a locked keypad) a lot of stuff is also behind locked filing cabinets.

Re: Laptop stolen from Pelosi's office during storming of U.S. Capitol, says aide

#68

Post by jacquesm »

mumblemumble wrote: post #14

Beyond the information security risk around the loss of this specific device, what really worries me is the physical security implications here. I'm certainly no expert on the subject, but it seems to me like, in a building like the US Capitol, it should not be anywhere near this easy for unauthorized people to waltz into an office or conference room in the first place. Let alone walk away with items from within that…

The US Embassy in Amsterdam is better protected than the Capitol.

Re: Laptop stolen from Pelosi's office during storming of U.S. Capitol, says aide

#69

Post by derg »

bilbo0s wrote: post #29
Fauntleroy wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To prevent unauthorized entry, Capitol Police would have had to put up a fight. Seems they were unwilling to do so. If America continues down this path Russia (and others) are just gonna have a field day.

You're being naive if you believe that Russia and others didn't already have a field day at the Capitol yesterday. I wouldn't worry as much about what these guys took from offices and server rooms as I would worry about what little digital gifts these guys may have left behind in the offices and server rooms.

Yep. The entire building needs to be completely scrubbed down and all tech needs to be taken and destroyed. A complete fresh start. Move operations to a new building while this is happening.

Re: Laptop stolen from Pelosi's office during storming of U.S. Capitol, says aide

#70

Post by radicalbyte »

danans wrote: post #22
spzb wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Given that Pelosi's desktop was logged on and unlocked, there's a fair chance the laptop was too which would render full disk encryption useless. As long as whoever stole it didn't close it and send it to sleep anyway.

IIUC that wasn't her desktop, but rather one of a staffer. The desk the insurrectionist had his boots on in that photo was also not hers. It was in her office, though.

Pelosi is in her 80s and a politician, it's common for people in that generation to not actually use computers themselves but rely on their assistants to "do the computer stuff".
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