What's with All the Hoopla over a Email Server?

I'm sure you've noticed on the news recently that Congress is making a big deal about use of a email server by Hillary Clinton that was not vetted by the the various security apparatuses of the federal government.  Many of you probably think it is politically motivated.  Some of it probably is.  We are political animals after all.  But it really is a security issue if the former Secretary of State did send email that was supposed to be classified to an unclassified server that was not in a secure location. 

So what's the big deal about classification?  Well, it can be.  Governments, other organizations, businesses, and individuals need to keep certain information private.  There is information out there that should never be shared with anyone.  Disclosure of certain information could lead to harm of that (for lack of a better word to call all these groups) actor.  An actor needs to keep track of all information, decide how certain information should be protected (if it needs to be protected), how that information can be sent to allied actors, and how that information could harm the actor's property.  This includes the actor's very life. 

That's where classification comes in.  Classification shows whether the information if released would harm the actor and the how much harm may be caused if the information comes to light.  It ranges from little or no harm at all to life-threatening.  That might seem like a bit too much melodrama, but that's basically the gist.

Let's take an example (you non-capitalists won't like this).  Company A has come up with this really nice production process that could revolutionize the cell phone industry.  If a competitor was able to get a copy of the plans for the process and get it up and running Company A could lose millions of dollars in profits.  So Company A decides it needs to keep the process secret for a few years to maximize the profits.

How is information classified?  Well, that is decided by an organization but it may also have to abide by government rules.  HIPAA, for example, requires by law that all patient medical records need to be kept classified and protected so that the patients aren't harmed by the release of that information.  If patient information is classified, a medical professional can be punished by a number of different methods for unknowingly releasing the information, including fines and prison time. 

In the case of the federal government, there are several basic levels.  Unclassified (which isn't really a level) means that no harm will come to the United States if the information is released to the public.  Classified means that the information needs to be kept out of the public eye but no real harm would to the government would occur.  Secret means that the information could cause some sort of harm to the government, and Top Secret means the information would cause an extreme amount of harm to the government.  There are other levels and divisions within the basic levels I mentioned.  It is a extremely complicated and convoluted process.

So what does this have to do with Hillary Clinton's server?  Well, a lot.  The question is what sort of information was contained that was sent to and from the server in question?  For example (I'm not saying there was that information.) what if there was information in any of those emails on the Bengazi incident that the White House had deemed secret or top secret?  That sort of information would have required the email be strongly encrypted and probably not even sent outside the federal government network.  It would have had to be sent to a device that had been cleared to accept that sort of information.  Those devices would have had top-of-the-line security that would protect the information from outside sources and even destroy the information if the device had been lost.

I've heard rumor that the server in question was just hidden in the bathroom closet of a mom-and-pop store or home somewhere in Colorado.  If this was the case, then there is a problem.  The server should have

• Been in a secure location that was protected from intruders easily getting access to the server.  Anyone could have just walked into the bathroom, opened the closet, opened the server and stolen the hard drives where the email was stored.
• Should have had major security on it.  Everything that went onto the server would have been encrypted to make sure the emails would not be in plaintext.  This would have included encrypting all the data on the hard disk(s) as well as the individual files.  This would have made it extremely difficult for anyone to read the data without figuring out what was in the emails.

Best case scenario?  The server, if it had been correctly vetted by the government for use as a classified server or better, would have been locked in a heavily guarded facility to insure no one would have access physically to the server.  The room would be climate-controlled with proper fire protection to insure that it would remain up and running.  It would be protected with the highest levels of encryption to insure the right people had the proper access to the server.

If the server was not properly vetted for use as a classified server or better, than Hillary Clinton did break federal law, even if she inadvertently sent a piece of classified to or received from it.  And she would have known better because she would have received the same training on the classification of data and acceptable use of resources that every federal employee and contractor receives every year at a minimum.  Just because she was a senior cabinet member would not absolve her of this fact, partly because it would be her responsibility to insure all her employees received that training and were aware of the proper directives of her organization.  Not doing so would make her negligent in her position and she should have been reprimanded.

Is this a minor thing that should be swept under the rug?  I guess that's up to Congress and the White House to decide.  But in my opinion it needs to be seriously investigated.  The security of our country could be compromised.