The Department of National Defence is investigating possible security breaches on board HMCS Charlottetown.
Court documents allege three crew members stored classified information on their personal profiles back in February.
Military police were granted a search warrant, which allowed them to seize a CD located in the communications control room aboard the Halifax-based ship. The documents explain that the alleged security breach was discovered during a routine search of the defence wide area network.
The scan discovered 196 protected files. The files were then burned from the network onto three CDs that were held within a secure lock-up within the ship. The search warrant states the investigating officer requested to speak to the three crew members, but they declined at the time.
It is not clear what was contained in the files, but the information is referred to as ‘protected’ and ‘classified.’ It’s also not clear if this investigation has led to charges.
Earlier this year, another crew member of HMCS Charlottetown was investigated for similar allegations. Military police in Halifax alleged a web designer working at the naval security operation improperly stored more than 1,000 secret documents between 2004 and 2009.
The commander of Maritime Forces in Atlantic Canada determined at the time there wouldn’t be charges, because even though information was mishandled, it was done without malice.
There’s also the well-known case of naval intelligence officer Jeffrey Delisle who was convicted of copying secret computer files at the navy’s information hub and selling them to Russia between 2007 and 2012.
Even though there is an investigation, and even if military policed determine there was a security breach, it’s important to note that not all cases result in charges.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Kelland Sundahl
