In a recently declassified 1983 directive (pdf), President Reagan ordered steps to improve the security of government communications. “Mobile and fixed communications systems used by key U.S. Government officials in the Nation’s capital and surrounding areas are especially vulnerable to intercept and exploitation by foreign intelligence services,” the President wrote. National Security Decision Directive (NSDD) […]
By Hans M. Kristensen China’s entire fleet of approximately 55 general-purpose submarines conducted a total of six patrols during 2007, slightly better than the two patrols conducted in 2006 and zero in 2005. The 2007 performance matches China’s all-time high of six patrols conducted in 2000, the only two years since 1981 that Chinese submarines […]
[updated to clarify paragraph on Tonkin Gulf Incident] During the Vietnam War, North Vietnamese intelligence units sometimes succeeded in penetrating Allied communications systems, and they could monitor Allied message traffic from within. But sometimes they did more than that. On several occasions “the communists were able, by communicating on Allied radio nets, to call in […]
A Russian satellite tracking facility in Siberia called the Altay Optical Laser Research Center is profiled in a newly updated document collection (pdf). A proposed expansion of the facility calls for a high-resolution satellite imaging telescope with an aperture of 3.12 meters and angular resolution of 0.044 arc seconds. “This is diffraction-limited performance, indicating serious […]
Noteworthy new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service that have not been made readily available to the public online include these (all pdf). “Obstruction of Justice: an Overview of Some of the Federal Statutes that Prohibit Interference with Judicial, Executive, or Legislative Activities,” December 27, 2007. “Obstruction of Congress: a Brief Overview of […]
The lines of authority governing Department of Defense employees at U.S. embassies abroad, including policy and intelligence personnel, are set forth in a new DoD directive. See “Department of Defense Operations at U.S. Embassies” (pdf), DoD Directive 5105.75, December 21, 2007.
The Director of National Intelligence last year affirmed the Administration’s support for ratification of the Law of the Sea Convention. But a minority in Congress expressed concern that the Convention would impede U.S. intelligence collection. “The overwhelming opinion of Law of the Sea experts and legal advisors is that the Law of the Sea Convention […]
Attorneys at the Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel violated the executive order on classification and damaged oversight of the secrecy system last year when they refused to process a request from the Information Security Oversight Office for an interpretation of the order, according to a complaint filed yesterday (pdf) by the Federation of American […]
The Director of National Intelligence has issued a new performance management policy (pdf) that will require regular evaluations of the performance of all U.S. intelligence community employees. The new policy will include “the evaluation of IC employees on their results (in other words, ‘what’ they achieve)” as well as “the manner in which they achieved […]
Updated below On December 31 President Bush signed into law the “Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National (OPEN) Government Act of 2007,” which amends the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The new law makes several constructive procedural changes in the FOIA to encourage faster agency response times, to enable requesters to track the status of […]
The National Security Agency published a notice today describing its Power Upgrades Project, which is intended to meet the Agency’s growing demand for electrical power and to replace aging electrical infrastructure. “The proposed utility upgrades would allow for 100 percent self-contained redundancy, should off-site power sources fail,” according to the January 2 Federal Register notice. […]
A good map can tell you where you are and show you how to get to where you want to go. What could be more important? A recent U.S. Army Field Manual (large pdf) explains the rudiments of map reading. But distribution of the manual is restricted, and it has not been approved for public […]