News

DOD: Spy Coins Report Based on False Info

The Defense Security Service, a division of the Department of Defense, has issued a statement saying that sections in a report warning that at least three U.S. security contractors had been targeted by so-called "spy coins" are false.

"The U.S. Defense Industry report which claimed radio frequency transmitters were discovered embedded in Canadian coins is not true," the statement reads. "This statement [on the coins] was based on a report provided to DSS. The allegations, however, were found later to be unsubstantiated following an investigation into the matter."

Numerous news organizations (Ed's note: including this site, which picked up the story via a wire service) ran stories about the coins earlier this month after the report -- originally issued in June 2006 -- was made public.

"The 2006 annual report should not have contained this information," the statement continues.  "The acting director of the DSS directed an internal review of the circumstances leading up to the publication of this information to prevent incidents like this from reoccurring."

A spokesperson for the service had originally confirmed the story for reporters -- "What's in the report is true" -- but said that further details were classified.

About the Author

Becky Nagel is the vice president of Web & Digital Strategy for 1105's Enterprise Computing and Education Groups, where she oversees the front-end Web team and deals with all aspects of digital strategy for the groups. She also serves as executive editor the ECG Web sites, and you'll even find her byline on PureAI.com, the ECG group's newest site for enterprise developers working with AI. She recently gave a talk at a leading technical publishers conference about how changes in Web technology may impact publishers' bottom lines. Follow her on twitter @beckynagel.