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Secrecy and Security News

Newer News: August 2013

July 2013

• 'Classification inflation' at Pentagon under investigation: GAO by Shaun Waterman, Washington Times, July 31. "Congressional auditors said Wednesday they are launching a first-of-its-kind review of the system for safeguarding national security secrets, with a view to measuring the scale of a widely understood but unquantified problem -- 'classification inflation'."
• Analysis: Manning damage has fallen well short of worst U.S. fears by Warren Strobel, Reuters, July 31. "Accused of the nation's biggest-ever security leak, U.S. soldier Bradley Manning was vilified by the government for causing irreparable damage to American national interests. In retrospect, the harm he caused seems to have been overplayed."
• For Congress, 'it's classified' is new equivalent of 'none of your business' by Ali Watkins, McClatchy Newspapers, July 30. "'Classified' has become less a safeguard for information and more a shield from accountability on tough subjects, said Steven Aftergood, the director of the Federation of American Scientists' Project on Government Secrecy."
• A Moderate Verdict by Fred Kaplan, Slate, July 30. "The Bradley Manning verdict and the failure of prosecutorial overreach."
• Manning Guilty Of 20 Charges, Not Aiding The Enemy, Associated Press, July 30. "In a split decision, U.S. Army Pfc. Bradley Manning was acquitted Tuesday of aiding the enemy -- the most serious charge he faced -- but was convicted of espionage, theft and nearly every other count for giving secrets to WikiLeaks, a verdict that could see him spend the rest of his life in prison."
• Manning Is Acquitted of 'Aiding the Enemy' by Charlie Savage, New York Times, July 30. "A military judge on Tuesday found Pfc. Bradley Manning not guilty of 'aiding the enemy' for his release of hundreds of thousands of military and diplomatic documents to WikiLeaks. But she convicted him of multiple counts of violating the Espionage Act, stealing government property and other charges that could result in a maximum sentence of 136 years."
• New Report: The State Department's Anti-Hacking Office Is a Complete Disaster by Dana Liebelson, Mother Jones, July 23. "The IG's audit of the cybersecurity office, which took place earlier this year, concluded that the office 'wastes personnel resources,' is unequipped to monitor $79 million in contracts, 'has no mission statement,' and 'is not doing enough and is potentially leaving Department systems vulnerable'."
• Math Behind Leak Crackdown: 153 Cases, 4 Years, 0 Indictments by Sharon LaFraniere, New York Times, July 20. "DNI Blair and Attorney General Holder fashioned a more aggressive strategy to punish anyone who leaked national security information that endangered intelligence-gathering methods and sources."
• Judges Say Reporter Must Testify, CIA Spies Can Wear Disguises in Court by Dana Liebelson, Mother Jones, July 19. "A US appeals court has ruled that the First Amendment does not protect New York Times national security reporter James Risen from revealing the sources that gave him information about the CIA's plan to disrupt Iran's nuclear program."
• Judge in Manning Case Allows Charge of Aiding the Enemy by Erin Banco, New York Times, July 18. "The military judge in the trial of Pfc. Bradley Manning decided on Thursday not to drop a charge accusing Private Manning of 'aiding the enemy.' If found guilty, Private Manning could face life in prison plus an additional 154 years."
• Bradley Manning trial judge refuses to drop 'aiding the enemy' charge by Ed Pilkington, The Guardian, July 18. "The judge presiding over the court martial of the WikiLeaks source Bradley Manning has declined to throw out the main charge against him -- that he knowingly 'aided the enemy' by leaking state secrets that were posted on the internet."
• Military Signals Partial Retreat from Wiki-Secrecy by Adam Klasfeld, Courthouse News Service, July 17. "Despite striking transparency gains in the Bradley Manning court-martial, the U.S. military continues to classify and redact key elements of the young soldier's trial from public scrutiny, observers of the case have said."
• Intelligence Community Backs Off Information Sharing by Bob Brewin, Nextgov.com, July 15. "A recent solicitation issued by the Defense Intelligence Agency suggests the intelligence community has started to back away from developing a common technology architecture to foster information sharing -- a concept officials touted in February prior to revelations that National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden was leaking top secret information to the press."
• Schumer, Israel want secret court less secret by Tom Brune, Newsday, July 13. "A month after leaks revealed that the National Security Agency collects millions of U.S. telephone and Internet records, two federal lawmakers representing Long Island say they want the secret court that OKs spying and surveillance programs to be more transparent and accountable."
• Manning, Snowden and the DOJ's Espionage War Against Leakers by Larisa Epatko, PBS NewsHour, July 12. "Edward Snowden, the former intelligence contractor who leaked top-secret documents about the National Security Agency's surveillance programs, is the eighth person charged by the Obama administration under the 1917 espionage law. Unlike other alleged leakers, Snowden revealed his identity right away and has maintained a highly public profile ever since."
• Snowden case not the first embarrassment for Booz Allen, or D.C. contracting industry by Tom Hamburger and Robert O'Harrow Jr., Washington Post, July 8. "Those incidents had little or no impact on Booz Allen's success in recent years or on its ability to compete for federal contracts, which last year provided 99 percent of the company's $5.8 billion in revenue."
• Secret Move Keeps Bin Laden Records in the Shadows by Richard Lardner, Associated Press, July 8. "The nation's top special operations commander ordered military files about the Navy SEAL raid on Osama bin Laden's hideout to be purged from Defense Department computers and sent to the CIA, where they could be more easily shielded from ever being made public."
• Good news for the NSA: There are 42% fewer new secrets for future Edward Snowdens to leak by Josh Meyer, Quartz, July 3. "One of the reasons former NSA contractor Edward Snowden was able to get away with stealing top-secret documents about government surveillance programs is because Washington's system of classifying national security information is badly broken."
• U.S. backtracks on nuclear stockpile secrecy by Xeni Jardin, Boing Boing, July 2. "Today, the size of the U.S. nuclear arsenal today is once again classified."

Older News: June 2013

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Updated August 2, 2013