SECRECY NEWS
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2011, Issue No. 42
May 5, 2011

Secrecy News Blog: http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/

HOUSE INTEL BILL MANDATES INSIDER THREAT DETECTION

The House Intelligence Committee this week called on the Director of National Intelligence to establish an automated insider threat detection program to deter and detect unauthorized access to, or use of, classified intelligence networks.

"Incidents like the unauthorized disclosure of classified information by Wikileaks... show us that despite the tremendous progress made since 9/11 in information sharing, we still need to have systems in place that can detect unauthorized activities by those who would do our country harm from the inside," the Committee said in its May 3 report on the FY 2011 Intelligence Authorization Act.

Curiously, the Committee conveyed no great urgency concerning its proposal. It said the DNI did not have to demonstrate an initial operating capability for insider threat detection until October 1, 2012. Full operating capability would not be required until October 1, 2013.

In fact, however, executive branch officials are not waiting for congressional guidance to improve the security of classified networks. There is already a focused effort to develop "a new administrative structure" for the management of classified electronic records, an Administration official told Secrecy News. "I can't say anything about it," he said, implying that there was something significant to say.

CRS ON U.S. AID TO PAKISTAN

A retrospective tabulation of U.S. aid to Pakistan, up to and including the FY2012 budget request, was issued in updated form yesterday by the Congressional Research Service. See "Direct Overt U.S. Aid and Military Reimbursements to Pakistan, FY2001-FY2012," May 4, 2011:

WANTED: BETTER ACCESS TO CRS REPORTS

In a news story today about the imminent arrival of the federal government's debt limit ("Debt Ceiling Has Some Give, Until Roof Falls In" by Binyamin Appelbaum), the New York Times cited a Congressional Research Service report that was performed "in February" concerning the impact of the debt limit.

But that report has been updated and superseded, though one might not know it due to congressional secrecy policy, which precludes direct public access to CRS publications. The current version is "Reaching the Debt Limit: Background and Potential Effects on Government Operations," April 27, 2011:

I will be participating in a panel discussion on "The Future of CRS," including prospects for improving public access to non-confidential CRS reports, on Monday, May 9 at 2 pm in 2203 Rayburn House Office Building. It is sponsored by the Sunlight Foundation.

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Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation of American Scientists.

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