Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2011/11/18/obama_security_fail/

Obama security in Oz lost booklet FAIL

Procedures manual leaked to press via Canberra gutter

By Richard Chirgwin

Posted in Bootnotes, 18th November 2011 00:02 GMT

The frenzy and excitement surrounding President Obama’s visit to Australia seems to have been too much even for some hapless staffer in the entourage: a booklet outlining his down-to-the-minute schedule and details of his security convoy has been found in a Canberra street.

According to The Age, which found the booklet, it also contains the phone numbers of key staffers, seating arrangements for the presidential motorcade, and even “which limousine door the President will use at events.”

The phone numbers in the book were apparently a goldmine if the booklet had ended up in the wrong hands, with military, Australian Federal Police, and consular personnel listed. “The booklet also names a long-serving member of Mr Obama's Secret Service unit”, The Age says.

Since the President has already departed our fair shores ex-Darwin for his next round of speechifying, El Reg presumes there’s no longer any imminent danger of the US losing a head of state to a gay communist crocodile attack, but the lost document would be considered a serious breach of security.

The “In-Confidence” book runs to 125 pages, and the newspaper also says its warning states that the information it holds must not be communicated to “any person not authorized to receive it”.

Too late for that, we fear. ®