Retired TSA Scanner Donated with Sensitive Data Intact

TSA officials failed to scrub a surplus airport scanner before donating it to a North Carolina state agency.

A retired airport scanner that was donated to a North Carolina state agency failed to have sensitive data scrubbed prior to transport, according to a September 10 report by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General.

The Rapiscan Secure 1000 SP was retired in 2013 amid criticism of the graphic depiction of passengers’ bodies, according to a story published on FCW.com, a technology industry publication for the federal government. The scanner is one of 251 scanners retired by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Nearly 70 percent of the inventory has been donated as surplus equipment to state and local agencies.

Prior to transfer, the scanners are supposed to be scrubbed of all data. However, the inspector general’s report noted that during a review of TSA’s management of its advanced technology inventory, the single scanner was found to not have been scrubbed prior to shipping to the North Carolina warehouse. Officials were able to trace the scanner through its serial number.

“We promptly informed TSA program officials about the possible security concern,” the report states. “One week later, a TSA official traveled to the state agency’s warehouse and removed the unit’s hard drive.” The report goes on to state that there was no evidence the machine had been used.

The report noted that as of August 29, 165 units had been transferred to federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. TSA will continue to provide units for transfer, and destroy any remaining units that are not donated.

[Photo: Rapiscan Systems]