Email snafu gifts federal informants' names to press

An email error inadvertently disclosed the names of more than 20 confidential informants in a federal investigation to reporters. An official in US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald's Chicago office mistakenly attached a sensitive document listing the names to a press release announcing criminal charges against two men - John Walsh …

[Sooty]

email error?

hardly, more like a good old PEBKAC* issue.

*Problem Exists Between Keyboard and Chair, but you all knew that :)

[Anonymous Coward]

Bet I know the first response

to the change of email address request - "Please take me off this distribution list".

And 99.9% of the rest of the replies would be "Me, too!".

The remaining 0.1% would be the techies trying frantically to stop the idiots^H^H^H Users using "Reply All"...

[Jason Bloomberg]

"Oops"

A few years ago, the company I worked for was trying to get staff to voluntarily change contracts, relinquishing company cars, free fuel, etc, etc on the promise of shares for a forthcoming IPO; I was having none of it, leading to some serious conflict with management.

In the midst of all the threats made to get me to sign-up to the change, management and HR were happily emailing each other about exactly what they thought of myself and other staff, how we could be dealt with, and so on.

I never did get the chance to ask how my manager felt having hit send only to have to hurriedly phone up and ask me to not read the wrongly CC'd email :-)

MIne's the one with an unread email in the left pocket. A pretty decent redundancy payment in the right.

[Kevin Podsiadlik]

Oh yes

The prosecution of Gov. Blagojevich is in REALLY good hands.

Oh but I'm sure no one need worry. I'm sure the press will be a model of responsibility in keeping the names undisclosed.

BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

[Tezfair]

Easily done

And one of the reasons I always tell my clients to add the email address last. Very good for double checking.

(or you can add a 20 second send delay rule in outlook)

[Anonymous Coward]

Brilliant

It does me proud to see our good old US Govt. employees trying to keep up with the rest of the world in mishandling confidential information /sniffles they make me so proud.

[Anonymous Coward]

"Queue messages

( do not send immediately )" is a very useful command for reviewing in Opera mail. Typical of the malaise that affects these sort of people - a local govt. worker I know didn't even know how to set up folders to sort her emails - she had them all in one big inbox, complaining she found it hard to keep track of things.

I'm sure Paris keeps track of everything in her big inbox.

[Jeffrey Nonken]

@sooty

My father always called this "Cockpit error." Obviously the classic "Loose nut behind the wheel" applies too.

Or, for that matter, "Stepping on your own dick," a favorite of some ex-colleagues. :)

[I. Aproveofitspendingonspecificprojects]

Bush's handlers haven't been so stupid have they?

Have they done one with a list of Dumbass' sock puppets?

I'd really like to know how the governments of Europe were suborned.

[Mark S]

Could have been much worse...

If you're going to be outed as an informant, better a white collar fraud case than a mafia murder one.

Reg, who wasn't so lucky.

[Anonymous Coward]

Or as we say....

Fault:

Computer User - Non Technical.

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh!!!

Woops, the administration that is backed by big business accidentally releases the names of whistle blowers on big business.

I wonder how that happened?

Here come the black helicopters….