The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Navy Seals hauled off a treasure trove of data, including computers, hard drives and portable storage devices, following their successful raid on the compound of Osama bin Laden – a raid that culminated with the death of the terrorist leader.
Navy SEALS retrieved five computers, 10 hard drives and more than 100 storage devices including USB thumb drives and DVDs, according to the Journal and others. That data was taken to a special facility in Afghanistan where it is being analyzed. The off five computers, 10 hard drives and more than 100 storage devices, such as DVDs and removable flash drives, U.S. officials said.
The data captured in the raid could be as important as the killing of bin Laden, especially if it allows the U.S. and its allies to move quickly against Al Qaeda cells in other countries.
It is not known whether the drives holding the data were encrypted, though extremist groups are believed to have developed encryption software to protect sensitive data and operational plans.
Read more from the Wall Street Journal here.
