In a report today from MSNBC titled, Report: Obama helicopter security breached, the blueprints and other information relating to Marine One, the Presidential helicopter, were found linked to an Iranian IP address. The report states that a defense contractor downloaded a peer-to-peer (P2P) application the "SAME SYSTEM" that contained the information regarding Marine One.
We all make mistakes, but this one is a big one. We all oughta know that you treat systems with sensitive information as systems with sensitive information. This means that you do not install P2P applications from the Internet on a classified system or you do not transfer SSI or CLASSIFIED materials to an UNCLASS system. How either would have happened is a much larger question.
Nevertheless, this points out and re-iterates my comments earlier about changing the mindset regarding security and "that security is not comfortable and the common can be even more detrimental than the rare." This "potentially innocent" mistake will more than likely cost the contractor his/her job, and the potential in tax payer funds to address the security exposure. As security professionals, we need to stress the change in mindset at all levels, because this incident affirms that one of the greatest risks is the insider threat, no matter how innocent it may appear.