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Secrecy and Security News

Newer News: September 2010

August 2010

• Darpa's Star Hacker Looks to WikiLeak-Proof Pentagon by Spencer Ackerman, Wired Danger Room, August 31. "Tomorrow’s WikiLeakers may have to be sneakier than just dumping military docs onto a Lady Gaga disc. The futurists at Darpa are working on a project that would make it harder for troops to funnel classified material to WikiLeaks — or to foreign governments."
• Guide for interrogators tells how FBI agent turned suspect into informant by Walter Pincus, Washington Post, August 30. "Reading like the plot of a television crime show, the details of the encounter come from a newly disclosed 2009 teaching guide for government interrogators by the director of national intelligence's Intelligence Science Board."
• US spy chief: no more 'blabbing secrets' to the media, AFP, August 30. The chief of US intelligence has warned spy agencies against "blabbing secrets" to the media, saying employees should be "seen not heard."
• White House Announces New Export Control System, news release, August 30. "These changes – in what we control, how we control it, how we enforce those controls and how we manage our controls – will help strengthen our national security by focusing our efforts on controlling the most critical products and technologies and by enhancing the competitiveness of key U.S. manufacturing and technology sectors."
• Stephen Kim Charged with Disclosing National Defense Information to National News Reporter, DoJ/FBI news release, August 27. "A federal grand jury in the District of Columbia has returned an indictment charging Stephen Jin-Woo Kim with unlawfully disclosing national defense information to a reporter for a national news organization and making false statements to the FBI."
• Defense looks for ways to detect insiders stealing classified files by Bob Brewin, NextGov, August 26. "The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency kicked off on Wednesday a project that would give the Defense Department the ability to quickly detect and stop insiders intent on stealing information from military and government computer systems."
• State officials can hear secrets too by Dana Hedgpeth, Washington Post Top Secret America blog, August 24. "Governors and other local and state officials likely will get more access to classified information from the Feds, according to a new executive order signed by President Obama."
• Vast number of military bands may not be music to Gates's ears by Walter Pincus, Washington Post, August 24. The purpose of Army bands, and others run by all the military services, as described in the field manual, is to "provide music throughout the entire spectrum of operations to instill in our forces the will to fight and win, foster the support of our citizens, and promote America's interests at home and abroad."
• Prosecutors Eye WikiLeaks Charges by Adam Entous and Evan Perez, Wall Street Journal, August 21. "Pentagon lawyers believe that online whistleblower group WikiLeaks acted illegally in disclosing thousands of classified Afghanistan war reports and other material, and federal prosecutors are exploring possible criminal charges, officials familiar with the matter said."
• Army intelligence buys intelligence like Netflix? by Dana Hedgpeth and Bill Arkin, Washington Post Top Secret America blog, August 20. "Experts say that the vast majority of the 'intelligence' needed by the United States is available on the worldwide web. But that has not stopped Military Periscope from continuing to sell its subscription services to the U.S. government."
• Antiwar activists rally around suspected leaker by David Dishneau, Associated Press, August 20. "The Army private suspected in one of the largest unauthorized disclosures of classified information in U.S. history has become a hero to many anti-war activists who have joined an international effort to free him."
• Are risks from WikiLeaks overstated by government? by Robert Burns, Associated Press, August 17. "Although the Pentagon warns that WikiLeaks could have blood on its hands for publishing classified U.S. war documents that name Afghan sources, history shows that similar disclosures have not always led to violence."
• Intelligence experts weigh the impact of Afghan Wikileaks revelations by Nick Childs, BBC News, August 13. "The Wikileaks disclosures have offered an unprecedented new view of war. But do they offer more clarity or fog?"
• Security Reminder, Department of Homeland Security, August 13. "All DHS personnel are reminded that just because classified information appears in the public domain it does not mean that the information has been declassified by proper authority."
• ODNI Denies FOIA request for records on Biological Sciences Experts Group (BSEG), August 9. "ODNI located responsive material and, upon review, determined that it must be denied in its entirety pursuant to FOIA Exemptions 2, 5, and 6."
• White House Revamps Ethics Team, Without a Familiar Name by Eric Lichtblau, New York Times, August 7. "The pending departure of Mr. Obama’s 'ethics czar,' Norman Eisen, is generating angst among outside ethics watchdogs who admire his work, and more than a bit of glee from lobbyists who have clashed with him over restrictions."
• DoD Press Briefing on Wikileaks Release of Classified Records, August 5. "The Defense Department demands that WikiLeaks return immediately to the U.S. government all versions of documents obtained directly or indirectly from the Department of Defense databases or records."
• Grid Is Vulnerable to Cyber-Attacks by Siobhan Gorman, Wall Street Journal, August 3. "Computer networks controlling the electric grid are plagued with security holes that could allow intruders to redirect power delivery and steal data, the Energy Department warned in a recent report."
• ABC News Interview with Secretary Gates on WikiLeaks Release of Classified Records, August 1. "My attitude on this is that there are two -- two areas of culpability. One is legal culpability. And that's up to the Justice Department and others. That's not my arena. But there's also a moral culpability. And that's where I think the verdict is guilty on WikiLeaks. They have put this out without any regard whatsoever for the consequences."

Older News: July 2010

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Updated September 1, 2010