‘Unbelievable’: Report Says That a Biometric Device With Identities of U.S. Soldiers, Afghan Allies Was Sold On Ebay For $68,

Tim PearceDecember 28, 2022

A U.S. military The device was used to record and store information about military personnel, Afghanis who served with the U.S., terrorists and other individuals. According to reports, it was found on an online auction platform and sold for $68.

Matthias Marx, a German security researcher, was the purchaser. According to the report, Marx and his team bought the device, also known as a Secure Electronic Enrollment kit (SEEK II), from eBay in August. The New York Times.

Researchers had received reports that biometric devices were being used by the Taliban following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan last year. To assess the potential risk to thousands of Afghanis who served with the U.S. military for its 20-year occupation, the researchers studied the machines.

Marx and his colleagues also bought five additional biometric devices via eBay. One other thing they mentioned was that they discovered sensitive information about U.S. military personnel. This device was last used by the U.S. servicemen in Jordan in 2013.

“The irresponsible handling of this high-risk technology is unbelievable,” Marx spoke to Times. “It is incomprehensible to us that the manufacturer and former military users do not care that used devices with sensitive data are being hawked online.”

Marx granted the Times access to the SEEK II information. It contained unencrypted identifying information that included retinal scans as well as fingerprints for approximately 2,632 people. According to the Times this device was last used 10 years ago in Afghanistan.

“It was disturbing that they didn’t even try to protect the data,” Marx said. “They didn’t care about the risk, or they ignored the risk.”

The U.S. military couldn’t verify the information reported on the biometric scan.

“Because we have not reviewed the information contained on the devices, the department is not able to confirm the authenticity of the alleged data or otherwise comment on it,” Brig. In a statement, Gen. Patrick S. Ryder stated. “The department requests that any devices thought to contain personally identifiable information be returned for further analysis.”

On August 30, 2021, the U.S. pulled its last troops out of Afghanistan. This ended a 20-year occupation. The U.S. intelligence and military apparatus suffered a reputational blow due to the chaotic and bloody withdrawal. Hundreds of Americans, thousands of the U.S. military’s Afghan allies, and millions of dollars-worth of U.S. military equipment was left behind.

The U.S. also lost 13 servicemen in a terror attack on Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport, the final headquarters of the U.S. withdrawal as the Taliban blitzed and conquered the country behind the departing Americans. An attempt to counteract a suspected terrorist, U.S. bombed a Afghan aid worker. Ten civilians were killed, seven of them children.

“This strike was taken in the earnest belief that it would prevent an imminent threat to forces at the airport,” Gen. Frank McKenzie heads U.S. Central Command. said afterward. “Our investigation now concludes that the strike was a tragic mistake.”

One of the equipment found in Afghanistan was believed to include biometric scanners, and other devices that stored sensitive information on U.S. soldiers. The Taliban could use the devices to identify potential thousands of Afghanis who helped the U.S. military, and who were left behind by the withdrawal.

“We processed thousands of locals a day, had to ID, sweep for suicide vests, weapons, intel gathering, etc.” An American military contractor spoke The Intercept In August 2021. Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment (HIIDE) “was used as a biometric ID tool to help ID locals working for the coalition.”