Data leakage that could cost lives. Today I noticed that the Miami Herald had a piece about a design firm in Kansas City that had posted detailed plans for the forthcoming US Embassy in…Baghdad.
Detailed plans for the new U.S. Embassy under construction in Baghdad appeared online Thursday in a breach of the tight security surrounding the sensitive project.
Computer-generated projections of the soon-to-be completed, heavily fortified compound were posted on the Web site of the Kansas City, Mo.-based architectural firm that was contracted to design the massive facility in the Iraqi capital.
The images were removed by Berger Devine Yaeger Inc. shortly after the company was contacted by the State Department.
This is a sad demonstration of how the best laid plans can go so badly…so quickly. The devil is in the details. What can seem like an insignificant detail or a mundane task can come back to haunt you. Let this be a lesson to everyone that you have to be on top of the details. Trust me, I know what I’m talking about.
And the spin…
Berger Devine Yaeger’s parent company, the giant contractor Louis Berger Group, said the plans had been very preliminary and would not be of help to potential U.S. enemies.
“The actual information that was up there was purely conjectural and conceptual in nature,” said company spokesman Jeffrey Willis. “Google Earth could give you a better snapshot of what the site looks like on the ground.”
After the damage is done, there is no sense in the spin. Take your medicine.
[tags]Data Leakage, Baghdad Embassy Plans, US Embassy in Iraq[/tags]
