Space station control codes on stolen NASA laptop
A laptop stolen from NASA last year contained command codes used to control the International Space Station, an internal investigation has found.
The laptop, which was not encrypted, was among dozens of mobile devices lost or stolen in recent years that contained sensitive information, the space agency's inspector general told Congress today in testimony highlighting NASA's security challenges.
"The March 2011 theft of an unencrypted NASA notebook computer resulted in the loss of the algorithms used to command and control the International Space Station," NASA Inspector General Paul K. Martin said in written testimony (PDF). Another laptop contained sensitive information on the NASA's Constellation and Orion programs, as well as Social Security numbers, he said.
