Ride the Lightning

SHAME ON YOU PINOCCHIO! CURING COMPUTER VIRUSES WITH A SEVEN-LEVEL WIPE

December 3, 2007

You just can’t make up the stuff that comes out of Washington D.C. How they say what they say with a straight face is beyond me, but cue the Twilight Zone music and let me tell you the latest federal fairy tale.

The head of the Office of Special Counsel is Scott Bloch. The OSC was charged with investigating allegations that Karl Rove illegally disposed of electronic files. Bloch has been under investigation himself since 2005 for improperly dismissing issues brought before the OSC by whistleblowers and then not protecting them from retaliation. Obviously, the exact right guy to conduct the politically sensitive investigation of Mr. Rove, eh?

So . . . about a year ago, Bloch calls Geeks on Call (they don’t have IT help at the OSC?) and says his computer has a virus corrupting or deleting his files (that, at least, is his highly creative story). According to the Geeks on Call receipt, they provided various services to Bloch, including (drum roll please) a seven-level wipe of Bloch’s computer. Not only was Bloch’s hard drive wiped, but the laptops of two of his aides were also wiped. A seven-level wipe to cure a virus? And I guess the aides had the same virus?

If Mr. Bloch were Pinocchio, his nose would stretch outside the capital beltway.

Thanks to Sensei colleague Matt Leo for sniffing this odiferous item out. For your further reading amusement . . . http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/29/AR2007112902401.html

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