News
DOD: Spy Coins Report Based on False Info
The Defense Security Service, a division of the Department of Defense, has issued a statement saying that sections in a report warning that at least three U.S. security contractors had been targeted by so-called "spy coins" are false.
"The U.S. Defense Industry report which claimed radio frequency transmitters were discovered embedded in Canadian coins is not true," the statement reads. "This statement [on the coins] was based on a report provided to DSS. The allegations, however, were found later to be unsubstantiated following an investigation into the matter."
Numerous news organizations (Ed's note: including this site, which picked up the story via a wire service) ran stories about the coins earlier this month after the report -- originally issued in June 2006 -- was made public.
"The 2006 annual report should not have contained this information," the statement continues. "The acting director of the DSS directed an internal review of the circumstances leading up to the publication of this information to prevent incidents like this from reoccurring."
A spokesperson for the service had originally confirmed the story for reporters -- "What's in the report is true" -- but said that further details were classified.
About the Author
Becky Nagel is vice president of AI for 1105 Media, where she specializes in training internal and external customers on maximizing their business potential via a wide variety of generative AI technologies as well as developing cutting-edge AI content and events. She's the author of "ChatGPT Prompt 101 Guide for Business Uses," regularly leads research studies on generative AI business usage, and serves as the director of AI Boardroom, a new resource for C-level executives looking to excel in the AI era. Prior to her current position she was a technical leader for 1105 Media's Web, advertising and production teams as well as editorial director for a suite of enterprise technology publications, including serving as founding editor of PureAI.com. She has 20 years of enterprise technology journalism experience, and regularly speaks and writes about generative AI, AI, edge computing and other cutting-edge technologies. She can be reached at [email protected].