The Pentagon has concluded a 45-day review into how the military handles classified information after a National Guardsman with a top-secret clearance leaked information he did not need to know on Discord.
Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, had the clearance through his job as an information technology technician at Otis Air National Guard Base, but the fact he did not need to know the information he leaked prompted Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to order the review.
The 45-day review was ordered on April 14 but the findings and recommendations were published by the U.S. Defense Department on Wednesday.
Defense Department investigators found that the "overwhelming majority" of personnel with access to classified national security information comply with security policies and recognize the importance of information security in maintaining national security.
"At the same time, the review identified areas where the department should improve its security posture and accountability measures," the Defense Department said in a fact sheet.
The Pentagon said it will "reinforce existing security policies and practices" down to the bottom ranks and update them to reduce "ambiguity" while examining opportunities to tailor training and education to "better address current and evolving security needs," among implementing other recommendations.
"The department is mindful of the need to balance information security with requirement to get the right information to the right people at the right time to enhance our national security," the fact sheet reads.
"As DoD implements the recommendations and associated actions from this review, careful consideration will be given to guard against any 'overcorrection.'"
Austin has completed his review of the findings, the Defense Department said in a statement, and has issued guidance to senior military leaders on actions they must take in the near and medium-term future to improve accountability measures.
In a memo, Austin directed Defense Department leaders to ensure all personnel are included and accounted for in designated security information technology systems by Aug. 31.
Military leaders that are not a part of the intelligence community must validate the need of their personnel to access sensitive compartmented information and ensure that all personnel with access to such information have a non-disclosure agreement on file by the end of September.
Austin directed the Pentagon to develop a centralized tracking system for sensitive compartmented information facilities and special access program facilities by the end of the year. People who work in such facilities must certify that they adhere to policies prohibiting personal electronic devices.
Pentagon aims to shore up security after damaging leak
Washington (AFP) July 5, 2023 –
US defense chief Lloyd Austin has ordered measures aimed at improving security after a trove of top secret documents leaked online earlier this year, the Pentagon said Wednesday.
The move follows a 45-day review of Defense Department policies and procedures that Austin ordered after a junior airman allegedly orchestrated the most damaging leak of US classified documents in a decade.
"The review identified areas where we can and must improve accountability measures to prevent the compromise of CNSI (classified national security information), to include addressing insider threats," Austin wrote in a memo released by the Pentagon.
Steps assigned by Austin include developing a plan for a so-called Joint Management Office for Insider Threat and Cyber Capabilities to "improve threat monitoring across all (Pentagon) networks."
He also called for guidance to be issued to "immediately enhance accountability and control of top secret information," and for the implementation of a "phased approach to increase accountability, manage access, and increase security to classified data."
Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guard IT specialist, was arrested in April after allegedly posting a series of highly sensitive documents to a private chat group on social media platform Discord.
The documents, which soon spread across the internet, pointed to US concern over Ukraine's military capacity against invading Russian forces and showed Washington had apparently spied on allies Israel and South Korea, among other sensitive details.
It was the biggest such breach since the 2013 dump of National Security Agency documents by Edward Snowden and raised tough questions about access by Teixeira, a junior staffer, to high-level secrets.
Teixeira — who pleaded not guilty last month — is facing six counts of retaining and transmitting national defense information, which each carry sentences of up to 10 years in prison.
