Sensitive Military Gear Hawked On eBay, Craigslist

Source: Information Week

GAO investigators were able to buy two F-14 components from separate sellers, special night-vision goggles, body armor vests, and body armor protective plates.

By Thomas Claburn
InformationWeek
April 10, 2008 07:12 PM


Sensitive military items are being offered for sale through eBay (NSDQ: EBAY) and Craigslist, the Government Accountability Office said in a report issued on Thursday, a practice that puts U.S. service members and allies at risk.

"GAO found numerous defense-related items for sale to the highest bidder on eBay and Craigslist," the report said. "A review of policies and procedures for these Web sites determined that there are few safeguards to prevent the sale of sensitive and stolen defense-related items using the sites."

The GAO conducted its investigation between January 2007 and March 2008. Through eBay and Craigslist, the agency's investigators were able to buy two F-14 components from separate sellers, night-vision goggles with a sensitive component that allows U.S. service members to identify friendly forces, an army combat uniform "that could be used by a terrorist to pose as a U.S. service member," body armor vests, and body armor protective plates.

The GAO report expressed concern that items such as the protective gear could be reverse engineered by adversaries in order to design counter-measures.



Read more: http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/government/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=207101011

I bid .25 on that.

From the article, these things were available for purchase on eBay. Note, not all things used by the military are "state of the art"

NVGs: Generation III and IV Night Vision available at commercial retailers like: OpticsPlanet

ACUs available at all kinds of places like Ranger Joes, USCav, etc.

Better body armor than the kind used by our troops available COTS at any cop store. BTW, military body armor is shit. I would never spend good money on that crap.

Lord knows I've bought enough surplus stuff over the years...nomex flight suits from my hippie-band days (they go great with a tie-dye, dontcha know, and look cool behind a beat-up Hammond organ :D ...now to lose the spare tire and fit into em again, just without the hair I had then, but I digress hehe). Hell, BDU's etc. are a country-boy staple in some parts, and kick butt for yard chores. I heard this on the radio this morning, and they described stuff I've seen in catalogs and surplus stores for years...must be a slow news cycle.

Yawn. Hey newscasters: it's the economy, stupid!

Todd in Cheesecurdistan

and those LIEberals want to regulate stuff!:evilgrin: