UPDATE: The Air Force released this statement on June 15, 2016:
Through extensive data recovery efforts over the weekend and this week, the Air Force has been able to regain access to the data in the Air Force Inspector General Automated Case Tracking System. Once we ensure full database stability, we’ll bring the ACTS database back online for users to access. The Air Force is still investigating the incident and will implement all required corrective measures. The secretary of the Air Force has directed an independent review of the incident.
Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said all 100,000 reports, including pending or incomplete IG investigations, have been recovered. The service and contractor Lockheed Martin are still working to stabilize the system before users can begin to use the database, she told Air Force Times.
Earlier on Wednesday, Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Mark Welsh said that in additional to Lockheed, the 24th Air Force, the cyber division of the service, and Oracle, another defense contractor, were all working to restore the database.
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to get this data recovered and there won’t be a long-term impact, other than making sure we understand exactly what happened, how it happened and how we keep it from ever happening again,” Welsh said during a defense writers group breakfast in Washington, D.C.
The story below originally published on June 14.
The Air Force says it will take about two weeks to determine whether 100,000 Inspector General investigation reports, corrupted in a June 6 system crash, are recoverable.
The affected files, which date back to 2004, include pending or incomplete IG investigations, Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek told Air Force Times on June 14Tuesday.
The reports, filed within the Air Force’s IG’s Automated Case Tracking System, include fraud, waste and abuse complaints, IG investigations, appeals, Freedom of Information requests and congressional inquiries.
“We have no indication to believe this was a hacking,” Stefanek said.
Air Force officials on Friday said they were notified of the “system of record” crash on June 6. The system was created and maintained by defense company Lockheed Martin. When officials attempt to log in and access reports, the files appear corrupted.
“We are aware of the data corruption issue in the Air Force’s Automated Case Tracking System and are working with the Air Force to identify the cause and restore the lost data,” Lockheed spokeswoman Maureen Schumann said Tuesday.
“It’s not unusual that we have contractors administer a database,” Stefanek said. The Air Force has various databases that are not necessarily behind a standardized portal, like the AF Portal.
Properly credentialed military officials and Lockheed contractors who work on the case tracking system have access to the database, which serves all Air Force installations.
The IGs for each of the military services have their own case tracking databases.
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has requested a briefing from Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James on what he described as a disappointing incident. Warner is co-leading a bipartisan group of colleagues in the Senate and House to introduce legislation to establish an independent National Commission on Security and Technology Challenges.
“I am very concerned by any problems that could negatively impact case outcomes or that could exacerbate the already lengthy process for IG investigations to be concluded,” Warner wrote in a letter addressed to James on Friday.
“My personal interest in the IG’s ability to make good decisions about the outcomes of cases, and to do so in a timely manner, stems from a case involving a Virginia constituent that took more than two years to be completed, flagrantly violating the 180-day statutory requirement for case disposition,” he said.
“While this case was handled by DoD IG, rather than Air Force, GAO and others have routinely noted the lengthy process for disposition of IG cases from the services and have called into question the documentation upon which findings are based.”
Warner is also demanding to know why Congress was only informed of the problem Friday, “when the Air Force was made aware on Monday. The five-sentence notification to Congress did not contain information that appeared to have the benefit of five days of working the issue.”
The Air Force is working on alternative measures for anyone trying to file an IG complaint.
“Before we give that direction, we need to figure out if we can we restore the files that we have,” Stefanek said.
It is unclear whether the system crash directly impacts the Freedom of Information Act request process, she said, but it is likely FOIA requests for IG cases will be delayed as a result of the system meltdown.
Oriana Pawlyk covers deployments, cyber, Guard/Reserve, uniforms, physical training, crime and operations in the Middle East and Europe for Air Force Times. She was the Early Bird Brief editor in 2015. Email her at opawlyk@airforcetimes.com.
