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Defence Force probe into Fuji Xerox contract
AUGUST 2006
The
Defence Force has asked Audit New Zealand to investigate allegations
concerning a multimillion dollar contract for photocopiers.An anonymous
“whistleblower” said the Defence Force breached guidelines issued by
government security agency GCSB by choosing photocopiers from office
equipment maker Fuji Xerox over rivals that were more secure, and in at
least one case cheaper.The whistleblower, who claims to work for
another government agency, said that Fuji Xerox was given preferential
treatment during the tender.Defence Force spokeswoman Major Denise
Mackay said the allegations were being taken seriously.”The matter has
been referred to Audit New Zealand for investigation to ensure
transparency and independent review.”We will of course be cooperating
fully with them. Details of the investigation will be released in due
course.”Photocopiers have become an achilles heel for IT security staff
now that many double as printers and faxes and are attached to computer
networks.Modern copiers contain a hard disc drive that is used to
quickly output multiple copies of documents and which can contain
thousands of pages of previously copied and printed material. The
information on these drives can be hacked into or stolen, if not
adequately secured.Guidelines drawn up by GCSB say copiers that have a
higher Evaluation Assurance Level (EAL) rating, should be considered
over those that have a lower rating. If the devices are used to output
secure or classified information, products with a higher EAL rating
must be purchased.The whistleblower said that the Xerox copiers chosen
by the Defence Force have an EAL 2 rating, while competitors Ricoh,
Konica Minolta and Sharp tendered products with higher ratings of 3, 3+
and 4.”NZDF blatantly ignored GCSB policy, thus placing the information
they retain in jeopardy, and are also spending more taxpayer dollars by
doing so.”A pre-Budget leak of the Government’s plans to further
regulate Telecom prompted GCSB to remind government agencies of its
security advice in May, though later it turned out that a government
messenger, Michael Ryan, had taken confidential Cabinet papers home and
copied them there.GCSB spokesman Hugh Wolfensohn said GCSB had no
comment to make on what was “an internal matter for the department
concerned”.A spokesman for Fuji Xerox New Zealand, Clive Forbes, said
the company was confident all correct procedures were met and said that
Fuji Xerox was an international company that fully supported its
equipment. “We are not aware of any shortcomings.”The Defence Force
referred the allegations to Audit New Zealand within hours of hearing
of them and Major Mackay said it was too early to speculate whether
they may have substance.
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