U.S. tells agencies: Watch 'insiders' to prevent new WikiLeaks

[IDemo]

Source: NBC News

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, NBC News has learned.

As part of these programs, agency officials are being asked to figure out ways to “detect behavioral changes” among employees who might have access to classified documents.

A highly detailed 11-page memo prepared by U.S. intelligence officials and distributed by Jacob J. Lew, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, suggests that agencies use psychiatrists and sociologists to measure the “relative happiness” of workers or their “despondence and grumpiness” as a way to assess their trustworthiness. The memo was sent this week to senior officials at all agencies that use classified material.

The memo also suggests that agencies take new steps to identify any contacts between federal workers and members of the news media. “Are all employees required to report their contacts with the media?” the memo asks senior officials about the policies at their agencies.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40916433/ns/us_news-wikileaks_in_security/

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Pictured - potential WikiLeakian

[pnwmom]

1. This is part of the backlash that anyone could predict. n/t

[McCamy Taylor]

6. This is a more appropriate response than threatening to assassinate a journalist.

If the US government does not like leaks then it should stop leaks.

[JackRiddler]

8. Because when authoritarians feel panic, they adopt self-destructive, stupid tactics?

[PSPS]

2. Pay freeze while banksters get largest bonuses ever. Disgruntled much?

Why not just assign "minders" like they do in all the other totalitarian governments.

[Arctic Dave]

3. Awesome! Let the paranoia begin.

This should be fun.

[rachael7]

4. Predictable enough...

Instead of taking the sensible approach and just ordering agencies to quit doing so much illegal stuff that needs whistles blown, Obama takes the impossible road of continuing to do the illegal crap and trying instead to ferret out possible leakers. The irony is that all the psych evals and shoulder-looking-over that he's suggesting be instituted at federal agencies is only going to further erode employee loyalty and make leaks more, not less likely. Our leaders are completely batshit insane.

[gateley]

12. Well said - and I totally agree. Very good point about this coming back to bite

them on the ass, too. You think they were disgruntled before, just wait!

[strategery blunder]

5. Oh, I foresee this mixing VERY well with the pay freeze.

Anyone up for some :popcorn: ? I have plenty.

[SoapBox]

7. Sssshhh...Don't let the world know how REALLY stoopid we are!

[defendandprotect]

9. Let's hope some new "plumbers" are brought in ... that might bring this house of cards down!!

[Lugnut]

10. WTF?

How about not doing things that wlll be embarrassing if disclosed?

[go west young man]

11. Pathetic. What the fuck happened to this country?

The media hides all the corruption and deceit. The government lies and coversup crimes.
The people stay apathetic or wrap themselves in the flag and look the other way.
This country is fffffuuuuuuuuuccccckkkkkeeeeedddd up and it can only get worse now
the Republicans have the house again. Sad days indeed. And the left is now so
disillusioned with Obama that we have truly lost all hope for this land.

[flyingfysh]

13. they think "grumpiness" is the issue???

Did it ever occur to them that some people leak information because they are *ethical*? It seems that their whole understanding of why leaks occur is wrong.

[Bragi]

14. "The beatings will continue until morale improves" /nt

[seafan]

15. "This is paranoia, not security."

U.S. tells agencies: Watch 'insiders' to prevent new WikiLeaks


Michael Isikoff
January 4, 2011

.....

But in its efforts to root out the next Bradley Manning (the Army private accused of leaking classified documents to WikiLeaks), the administration may be misfiring, according to one national security expert.
“This is paranoia, not security,” said Steven Aftergood, a national security specialist for the Federation of American Scientists, who obtained a copy of the memo.

What the administration is doing, he added, is taking programs commonly used at the CIA and other intelligence agencies to root out potential spies and expanding them to numerous other agencies — such as the State Department, the Energy Department, NASA, Homeland Security and Justice — where they are unlikely to work.

.....

For example, the idea of requiring workers to report any contacts with members of the news media, as though all such contacts are suspicious, is “absurd” at the CIA, where it has long been standard policy, said Aftergood.

“It’s triply absurd at most other agencies,” he added.

.....

Monitoring of former employees?
Perhaps the most impractical question, according to Aftergood, relates to what steps the agencies are taking to monitor whether federal workers have visited the WikiLeaks website before they started their jobs or after they retired.
“Do you capture evidence of pre-employment and/or post-employment activities or participation in online media data mining sites like WikiLeaks or Open Leaks?” the memo asks.

Aftergood said he was baffled as to how the administration expects to monitor what websites employees visit from their home computers after they have retired.

.....

'Measure 'happiness,' look for 'despondence and grumpiness,' memo from administration official urges'


With all of these new eyes watching "the insiders", who is looking out for the country's safety while this administration creates untold numbers of new enemies abroad with predator drones; indefinite detention without charges; torture of detainees; targeted assassinations claimed as a privilege by this president?


It's all regressing to a grotesque mutation of the Nixon days.



(hyperlink added to text)

[Javaman]

16. Minority Report.

Thick neck security guy #1: Lt. you seem to be a little jittery...

LT: What? Oh, I'm sorry, my wife is in the hospital undergoing cancer surgery...

TNSG #1: Oh really, is that right. Well now, why are you acting so jumpy?

LT: like I just said, my wife is in surgery and I'm really worried.

TNSG #1: I don't think your wife is in surgery at all. In fact, I don't think your even married at all! I think you are stealing stuff!!! Wikileaking!!!

LT: WTF? is wrong with you? I'm your superior! you will stand down.

TNSG #1 into walkie: We have a code red! swarm! swarm!!

Security piles into the room. The Lt. screams for his life and gets hauled out.

TNSG #2: hey, isn't that the Lt whose wife is getting surgery for cancer today?

TNSG #1: yeah, that's him.