Because of what appears to have been a computer glitch, a group of nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) was temporarily off-line last week and not ready to launch on a moment’s notice. According to an article in The Atlantic, some Republicans have suggested that this means that New START, the nuclear arms control treaty awaiting Senate ratification, […]
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has issued new standards for the construction of Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities (SCIFs). SCIFs (pronounced “skiffs”) are rooms, vaults, or even entire buildings that are specially constructed and certified for the handling and storage of classified intelligence information known as Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI). The total number […]
Sharing of intelligence and other sensitive information within government and with selected private sector entities remains a work in progress. Depending on one’s perspective, there is too little sharing, or too much, or else the right stuff is not being shared. J. Alan Orlob, the Vice President for Corporate Security at Marriott Hotels, told Congress […]
A bill passed by the Senate last month would require U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to administer polygraph tests to all applicants for law enforcement positions within the agency. The move was prompted by reports (originally in the New York Times) and testimony before the Senate Homeland Security Committee that Mexican drug trafficking organizations […]
Thousands of previously unrecognized civilian casualties of the war in Iraq were documented in a collection of classified U.S. military records that were published online October 22 by the Wikileaks organization. The unauthorized release of the records was presented with Wikileaks’ usual understatement and precision. The newly disclosed records are said to be “the first […]
The Washington Post is publishing a rather spectacular series of stories this week tracing the flow of guns through American society and their use in criminal activity. The Post series directly challenges — and partially overcomes — the barriers to public disclosure of gun sales that were put in place by Congress under pressure from […]
The Israeli policy of “nuclear opacity” — by which that country’s presumptive nuclear weapons program is not formally acknowledged — is examined in the new book “The Worst-Kept Secret: Israel’s Bargain with the Bomb” by Avner Cohen (Columbia University Press, October 2010). For a variety of reasons, the author concludes that Israel’s “nuclear opacity” is […]
Noteworthy new reports from the Congressional Research Service that have not been made readily available to the public include the following (all pdf). “Hezbollah: Background and Issues for Congress,” October 8, 2010. “Pakistan’s Nuclear Weapons: Proliferation and Security Issues,” October 7, 2010. “Burma’s 2010 Election Campaign: Issues for Congress,” October 6, 2010. “Drug Courts: Background, […]
The recently enacted 2010 Intelligence Authorization Act requires the Director of National Intelligence to prepare a directive concerning access by the congressional Government Accountability Office (GAO) to intelligence information. The forthcoming directive, the content of which was not clearly specified by Congress, could enable GAO investigators to play a more significant role in intelligence oversight, […]
There were 5,135 inventions that were under secrecy orders at the end of Fiscal Year 2010, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office told Secrecy News last week. It’s a 1% rise over the year before, and the highest total in more than a decade. Under the Invention Secrecy Act of 1951, patent applications on new […]
Secrecy News was pleased to receive the following books, though we have not yet had a chance to read them closely. “The Reagan Files: The Untold Story of Reagan’s Top-Secret Efforts to Win the Cold War” edited by Jason Saltoun-Ebin is a rich collection of declassified letters, transcripts and National Security Council meeting minutes gleaned […]
I’m very grateful to the Electronic Frontier Foundation for naming me as one of the four recipients of its 2010 Pioneer Awards, which are intended “to recognize leaders on the electronic frontier who are extending freedom and innovation in the realm of information technology.” EFF is not only a prominent voice of online freedom, but […]