According to the New York Times, the military is buying back flash drives that are stolen in Afghanistan.

An excerpt:

He ended up paying what is, for here, a considerable sum: $35 apiece for most of them. Afghan boys, clearly acting for others, held out handfuls of flash drives, some looking brand new and others with marks of use.

“Slow down,” the officer said every so often to his translator as the clamor rose around him. “I’ll pay, I’ll pay, there’s no problem.”

My initial reaction to this was that it was a novel way to address the problem. But the long-term implications are significant, at least for the data, which at this stage is presumably not the target but happens to be on the drives. As far as I can tell, this practice sends the following message: 1) flash drives are worth $35 (what happens if someone doesn’t sell?); 2) the military will buy every one of them; and 3) the military won’t penalize anyone for stealing them.

I assume that this practice won’t continue simply because they are going to 1) discipline those who lost their flash drives; 2) reinforce the need to protect sensitive data; and 3) ban flash drives altogether. Even still, it can’t be a very good precedent to set. Else expect many more cases of stolen flash drives.

UPDATE: Of course, the easiest “path to profitability” for the criminals here may just be to manufacture flash drive shells and sell them “back” to the military when they come calling.