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Secrecy and Security News

Newer News: February 2011

January 2011

• Pentagon Spokesman Geoff Morrell on Status of Bradley Manning, WikiLeaks Investigation, DoD news briefing, January 26. "Let me describe how Private First Class Manning is being held. He is not in solitary confinement. He is not in isolation. He is in max -- he is a maximum-custody detainee in a prevention-of-injury status."
• Panel: climate spy satellite needed by Dan Vergano, USA Today, January 26. "Verifying international climate treaty agreements to limit carbon dioxide emissions may require an observation satellite to monitor 'non-cooperative' countries, a science panel report concludes."
• Updated WikiLeaks Guidance, U.S. Senate Office of Senate Security, n.d. (~January 21). "Classified information, whether or not already posted on public websites or disclosed to the media, remains classified, and must be treated as such by Senate employees and contractors until it is declassified by an appropriate U.S. Government authority."
• WikiLeaks Views Won’t Get Military Computers Wiped by Spencer Ackerman, WIRED Danger Room, January 20. "Work for the military? Couldn’t help but view a purloined WikiLeaks cable on your desktop? The Pentagon has to insist you delete it. But don't worry about having the rest of your files scrubbed in a fit of information-security hysteria."
• Pentagon Eases WikiLeaks Security Measures by Sharon Weinberger, AOL News, January 20. "Pentagon employees and contractors who have peeked at classified documents released by WikiLeaks will no longer have to have their work computers scrubbed by information security professionals."
• EUCOM Completed Its Fundamental Classification Review with No Results, January 18. "The EUCOM Intelligence Office conducted a review as directed by E.O. 13526 for a Fundamental Classification Guidance Review. No inefficiencies were found during the EUCOM review. No documents were produced during the review therefore, EUCOM reports a no records found in response to your FOIA request."
• Report urges Defense to collect genome data on all troops by Bob Brewin, NextGov, January 18. "The Defense Department should collect human genome sequence data from military personnel to help determine their genetic traits, which could improve performance and cut medical costs, a Defense scientific advisory panel recommended in a report released in December 2010."
• Genetic Soldiers? Advisory Group Urges Pentagon To Map Genes Of All Personnel by Dan Froomkin, Huffington Post, January 14. "A new report from a secretive, highly influential group of scientists is urging the Department of Defense to begin collecting and mapping the full genome of all military personnel -- a move that could well give the Pentagon the ability to select for certain genetic predispositions."
• Obama's Drone Memo Dilemma by Nick Baumann, Mother Jones, January 11. "The Obama administration released Bush-era legal opinions authorizing torture. Will it make public its own rationale for targeting US citizens for death?"
• Gibbs Departure Offers Opportunity To Fix White House Press Relations by Dan Froomkin, Huffington Post, January 10. "The modern White House press secretary operates in a defensive crouch, fending off questions rather than answering them and revealing as little as possible. But does it have to be this way?"
• Former CIA Officer Arrested for Alleged Unauthorized Disclosure of National Defense Information, Justice Department news release, January 6. "Jeffrey Alexander Sterling, 43, of O’Fallon, Mo., was charged with six counts of unauthorized disclosure of national defense information, and one count each of unlawful retention of national defense information, mail fraud, unauthorized conveyance of government property and obstruction of justice."
• White House asks agencies to review data security by Kevin Johnson, USA Today, January 6. "In an attempt to tighten control of classified information, the Obama administration has issued government-wide guidelines urging officials to be wary of 'insider threats' and suggesting how supervisors can evaluate employee 'trustworthiness'."
• U.S. tells agencies: Watch 'insiders' to prevent new WikiLeaks by Michael Isikoff, MSNBC, January 4. "Trying to prevent more WikiLeaks embarrassments, the Obama administration is telling federal agencies to take aggressive new steps to prevent leaks of classified documents, including instituting 'insider threat' programs to ferret out disgruntled employees who might be inclined to leak classified documents.
• Rumsfeld Memoir Highlights VIP Access to Government Files by Sharon Weinberg, AOL News, January 2. "Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, confirmed that Rumsfeld, as a former presidential appointee, has the right to request certain records separate from the FOIA process, although that access is 'limited to records they originated, reviewed, signed or received during their tenure, regardless of classification,' Whitman told AOL News."

Older News: December 2010

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Updated February 2, 2011