A new government advisory committee on access to classified information by state, local and other non-federal bodies will hold its first meeting in Washington tomorrow. The State, Local, Tribal, and Private (SLTP) Sector Policy Advisory Committee “will advise the President, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Director of the Information Security Oversight Office, and other […]
Defense agencies have complied with a recommendation to prohibit the use of military survival training techniques — such as waterboarding — in prisoner interrogation, the DoD inspector general confirmed in a report (pdf) last year. In response to a previous Inspector General report (pdf), a 2008 DoD directive (pdf) stated that “Use of SERE [survival, […]
The Obama Administration yesterday announced an unprecedented fifth prosecution in a case involving unauthorized disclosures of classified information. Former Central Intelligence Agency officer Jeffrey A. Sterling was arrested on charges of disclosing classified intelligence information concerning a foreign nuclear weapons program to an unnamed author. From the context, it is evident that the alleged recipient […]
Although concealment and misdirection of adversaries are primordial acts, the word “camouflage” did not enter the English language until World War I. Author Nicholas Rankin observed in his book “A Genius for Deception” that “the Oxford English Dictionary’s first example of published usage is from the Daily Mail in May 1917: ‘The act of hiding […]
The Obama Administration is moving to increase the security of classified information in response to the massive leaks of classified documents to Wikileaks in recent months. The White House Office of Management and Budget yesterday issued a detailed memorandum (pdf) elaborating on the requirement to conduct an initial assessment of agency information policies and to […]
There are security weaknesses at many of the research facilities operated by the Department of Defense, according to a DoD Inspector General survey issued last year. “All [military] Services identified compliance issues related to information assurance,” the IG report (pdf) found, based on a review of 37 out of 121 research, development, test and evaluations […]
The Air Force issued updated guidance (pdf) last week concerning its highly classified special access programs, including new language prohibiting unauthorized communications with Congress. Special access programs (SAPs) involve access and safeguarding restrictions that are more extensive than those that apply to other classified programs. SAPs are nominally established “to protect the Nation’s most sensitive […]
One aspect of the current crisis in classification policy is the growing discrepancy between what is secret and what is classified. All too often, official classification controls are imposed (or retained) on information that is public, thereby generating confusion and loss of confidence in the integrity of the classification system. The problem was underscored recently […]
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the pro-Israel lobby organization, has often received and distributed confidential government information, including classified materials, asserted former AIPAC official Steven J. Rosen in his pending lawsuit against the organization. “There is evidence that the receipt and distribution of confidential foreign policy information is a common practice for AlPAC,” […]
Noteworthy new products of the Congressional Research Service include the following reports (all pdf). “The EU-South Korea Free Trade Agreement and Its Implications for the United States,” December 17, 2010. “Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: The Fate of the Oil,” December 16, 2010. “Keeping America’s Pipelines Safe and Secure: Key Issues for Congress,” December 13, 2010. […]
By Hans M. Kristensen The Federation of American Scientists today applauded the Senate’s ratification of the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) between the United States and Russia. The Senate voted 71 to 26 in favor of ratification of the treaty. The approval of the treaty is a victory for common sense and an impressive achievement […]
Faced with release of hundreds of thousands of classified records by Wikileaks in recent months, what should the government do? The best answer might be to release hundreds of millions of such records! By stripping away the accretions of decades of overclassification, a wholesale reduction in classified records would restore some integrity to the classification […]