LOS ALAMOS SECRET NETWORK COMPROMISED

Los Alamos has more to worry about than classified disks gone missing. Sources are telling the watchdog group Project on Government Oversight that "over the last few months there have been 17 incidents involving classified information being sent over the unclassified e-mail system at Los Alamos. This is prohibited. Each of these e-mails had the capacity to compromise the entire Los Alamos network servers, back-up files, connected DOE [Department of Energy] servers and server backups with classified information. The most recent incident occurred on July 15 when a Los Alamos lawyer sent a classified e-mail from his home computer to multiple people at Los Alamos."

Lab spokesman Jim Fallin appears to have confirmed the allegations in today's San Francisco Chronicle. "All incidents related to e-mail and classified information have been properly reported to NNSA and properly mitigated so that there has been no significant risk to national security," he said.

THERE'S MORE: The lab has different e-mail systems that are used based on the sensitivity of the information being transmitted," the L.A. Times explains.

In the case of the most highly classified weapons information, scientists use a "red" system that is physically disconnected from outside networks, including the Internet. Less sensitive information is routed to a "yellow" system, and the least sensitive information uses a "green" system that is connected to the outside networks...

Because U.S. defense facilities are subject to almost daily cyber security attacks, the government presumes that hackers can access information that is not carefully guarded.